Sources of Knowledge in Mulla Sadra

In the Transcendent Philosophy, valid knowledge sources include: external senses, internal senses, intellect, intuition, testimony, and tradition. In Mulla Sadra’s view, the first source of knowledge acquisition is external senses, and common sense is the most important internal sense of human beings. The intellect which distinguishes Man from other beings has a limit which restricts the magnitude of knowledge acquisition. Mulla Sadra divides the intellect into theoretical and practical types and, while considering both of them as knowledge sources, he sees their difference in their objects. It is only intuition which can access anything that is recognizable. Testimony, if widely transmitted and related to sensible affairs, is valid as a dependent knowledge source, and a transmitted reason, particularly in religious discussions, is an independent and infallible source.