Originality of Existence as a Criterion of Moral Goodness in Sadra's Philosophy

In Sadra's philosophy, existence is introduced as good, and levels of existence are also levels of goodness. He in his Ethics believes in intrinsic and rational goodness and ugliness. In this article, we will discuss the relationship between these two parts of Sadra's thought and we will show that Originality of existence can be a rational basis for defending inherent goodness and ugliness. The main claim is that the originality of existence and levels of existence also have normative dimensions. In the following, Sadra's ethics will be compared with the view of his two contemporary philosophers and it will be argued that Sadra's moral system is opposed to Cartesian voluntarism because he defends moral goodness by relying on intellect and does not consider moral rules to be subject to human will. Also, his realistic ethics is different from empirical utilitarianism and because he accepts the relation between existence and goodness, his ethics is a practical obstacle against meaninglessness and nihilism.