Intuition and Time: A Comparison between Bergson and Mulla Sadra

The notions of intuition (as a source of knowledge) and time have been, since olden times, noticed by thinkers and philosophers. The notion of time may be traced back to the ancient Greece, and it still continues to be discussed in the present century. This notion finds a key place in some philosophies such as that of Bergson in the Western world and Mulla Sadra's philosophy in the Islamic world. Bergson thought begins through a new glance on this key and pivotal notion. In Mulla Sadra's thought, "existence"- and not "time"- is the main notion; but the notions of substantial motion and principiality of existence are intertwined with that of "time", and evidently time finds an important role. In this writing, at first, the author discusses Bergson's intuitive approach to the notion of time and results of such approach in other philosophical subjects such as nature of matter, free will, religion and ethics, relation between the soul and body, life, and God. Then, he will discusses substantial motion and principiality of existence in Mulla Sadra's thinking in brief and as much as the scope of this writing allows, and introduces Mulla Sadra's three understandings of the notion of time. In the conclusion, he will make a comparison between the ideas of Bergson and Mulla Sadra taking into account similarities and differences between ideas of the two philosophers concerning intuition and essence of time.