Study of Human Free-will from the Viewpoints of Mullā Ṣadrā, the Founder of Transcendental Philosophy, and Michael Gazzaniga, the Founder of Cognitive Sciences

Many of the Muslim philosophers view human free-will as among the most significant means of knowing God; that is because they believe that man is similar to God in his essence, attributes, and actions and thus knowing human free-will and its limits would clarify his role in the world of being as well as his relation to God. Mulla Sadra has stated this discourse in a coherent and innovative way based on the principle of the ontology of genuineness, gradation, and oneness of being and ultimately has ingeniously explained the theory of intermediate position (amr-i bain al-amrain) through the theory of individual oneness. Similarly, in respect to explaining human free-will, Gazzaniga, as a leading researcher in cognitive neuroscience and the study of the neural basis of mind, believes that human free-will is made up by the brain's "interpreter" and freedom of choice is attained for man through interaction in society and environment, but at the same time humans are responsible beings. In this paper, first, each of these thinkers' principles of thoughts is elucidated and then, after explaining the similarities and differences of their viewpoints, both viewpoints are analyzed and evaluated.