Place of Act in Man’s Existence in Mullā Ṣadrā

One of the important problems in the field of anthropology is the place of “act” in Man’s existence and its role in attaining perfection. In Mullā Ṣadrā’s view, when a person performs an act, its truth is developed inside their soul so that thoughts and beliefs function as origins of different tendencies and feelings in human beings. Therefore, external acts are manifestations of human thoughts, intentions, feelings, and tendencies; they do not directly affect the formation of the truth of human beings but only function as the manifestation of the truth of the human soul. In this way, the truth and inner nature of act is identical with soulish forms and habits, which in the hereafter create the Ideal and otherworldly body. In fact, human beings represent themselves in the outside world through their acts. Hence, Mullā Ṣadrā rejects the idea that act is the cause of the emergence of states and attributes in the soul and, in case of repetition, results in the development of soulish habits. He, rather, believes that act is the product of human states and tendencies and merely plays the role of an intermediary between the human soul and the external material world. However, acts indirectly affect the formation of new thoughts and, as a result, new emotions and dispositions.