The Bases of ‘Unity of Being’ in the Thought of Heraclitus and Molla-Sadra

The old attempt of philosophy to understand the meaning of unity and return the plurality of the world to a unified matter has a long record which can be traced to the philosophy of ancient Greek especially philosophy of Heraclitus. His notion of unity is different from the understanding of his previous philosophers of unity. His view of arche is a transition from material to non-material matter; the manifestation of this point is Logos. Logos unifies the material and non-material matter and the whole universe. The theory of unity of being has been noticed by mystics and especially Ibn-Arabi, but Molla-Sadra is the first philosopher who presents a rational and deductive presentation of this theory in a philosophical system. Heraclitus and Molla-Sadra both try to present a united existential picture of the world. Their ideas have some common points along with some differences. This article tries to study the bases of unity of being from the perspectives of the two philosophers and compare their commons and differences.