Problem of Attributing Quiddity to Existence in Seyyed Ṣadr al-Dīn Dashtakī and an Evaluation of Mullā Ṣadrā’s Narration of his Views

Solving the problem of attributing quiddity to existence in Dashtakī’s view is intertwined with the theory of predication, derivative, and the principle of subordination. Through separating existence in the sense of being in existence and existence in the sense of existent and distinguishing accidents by-themselves from mentally-posited accidents, Dashtakī has analyzed the problem of attribution in line with the pre-supposed elements. He agrees with the occurrence of existence to quiddity only in existence in the sense of existent in the mind. Mullā Ṣadrā has usually provided an incomplete narration of Dashtakī’s view of attribution, theory of predication, derivative, and the necessity of demonstrating the source of the predicate for the subject. In fact, he has explained all the related elements in one place. In his analysis of the subordination principle, he is completely influenced by Dashtakī. It seems that, in spite of his great efforts at providing a consistent narration of Dashtakī’s view, Mullā Ṣadrā has failed to present some elements consistently in his own theory.