Human Existential Role in Knowledge: a Comparative Study on Mullā Ṣadrā and Heidegger

There are two major interpretations of the role of human existential role in knowledge: 1) a passive role (as a blank tablet): the pictures of things are projected onto him or to a special level of his existence, called mind; 2) an active role (proposed for the first time by Kant). In both theories, human existence is considered as an obstacle to the manifestation of things as they are, and therefore, the possibility of gaining access to the things as they are becomes problematic. Even Kant concluded that it is impossible to know reality as it is.The author in this article argues that Mullā Ṣadrā and Heidegger opened a new way in this regard. They share the idea that the role of human being in the act of understanding is merely providing a ground for manifestation, so that things manifest themselves as they are. Human being does not impose anything onto the things he understands, instead, because of his unique existential structure, he allows things to show themselves as they are.