The Other and Perfection of the Soul in Sadra's Philosophy

The issue reviewed in this research is the other and its effect on perfection of the soul from the viewpoint of Mulla Sadra's philosophy. Some contemporary thinkers in the West have paid attention to the issue of the other and various types of human relationships and each have addressed this issue from a different angle. Perfection of the soul is one of the issues that has been rationally justified by Mulla Sadra through the two principles of "corporeality of contingency and spirituality of persistence" of the soul and "substantial motion". The perfection of a person depends on the use of two theoretical and practical faculties and reaching the rank of acquired intellect and emptying the soul of moral vices. From Mulla Sadra's viewpoint, perfection of the soul can only be achieved through worldly mode of being and social life. Undoubtedly, in the social life, human beings are connected with others, and the prosperity and adversity of the soul depends, to a large extent, on how one interacts with them. Examples of others include the mass of people, the teacher and the guardian of the society. In the fourth journey, the seeker is inevitably connected with others, and thereby, he is not only a pathfinder in guiding them, but this connection is also effective in his own upward journey. In this article, the effectiveness of others in the perfection of the soul will be examined with an analytical method.