An Explanation of Interaction of Cognitive, Emotional and Volitional Elements in Human Decision-Making Process in the Light of Islamic Teachings

An explanation of voluntary behaviors, mechanisms and the rules governing the decision-making system of man has been a cause of concern for thinkers throughout history. Philosophers describe a famous chain for the formation of will, beginning from concept and arriving at acknowledgement of usefulness. Then, they pass from them to desire and then strict desire and finally, will is formed. This paper seeks to review and complete the cognitive elements of this chain. The method of information compilation in this study is library-based, and empirical findings have been used to complete the cognitive elements of the above-mentioned chain. In this paper, a special emphasis has been put on the role of imagination in forming ‘conception’, and in order to pass from concept to ‘acknowledgement of usefulness, the role of the basic propositions has been made clear. Other findings of this study include effect of personality and emotional elements on cognitive ones. Rather, mutual effects of cognitive and emotional elements are emphasized. Furthermore, effect of will on the control of concept and acknowledgement of usefulness has been referred to. Finally, having revealed the hidden elements of the chain, the paper has studied plagues and obstacles of knowledge in a pathological view.