A Review of the Opposition of Unity and Diversity in Sadra's Theory of Gradation

The discussion regarding "Unity and Diversity" is one of the most important philosophical issues. An explanation regarding the manner of relation between one and many is one of the issues which is a point of difference in the opinions of the philosophers; from among the philosophers, Sadra, while rejecting all four types of opposition (contradiction, privation and possession, contrast, mutual correlation) and based on his own foundations in transcendental philosophy, addresses the theory of gradational opposition; but since he still speaks of the opposition of unity and diversity in some of his works, an important question arises here which is that if unity and diversity are two opposing concepts, how is this issue true in view of his theory regarding gradational unity? And is this opposition, essential or secondary? In answer to this question, as will be addressed in this article, Sadra in some of his works, in contrast to the views of other philosophers and while considering the opposition between the two to be essential, believes it to be a fifth type of opposition in which the difference between unity and diversity is not in the exclusion of the essential characteristics of one another but rather is in the extent of difference of completeness and deficiency.