Imamate in the View of Transcendent Theosophy and Peripatetic Philosophy

Philosophers always seek to find answers to man's fundamental questions and present solutions for determining man's destiny. Their major concerns were such questions like happiness, ideal political life and utopian leadership. Muslim philosophers, from among those who advocate transcendent theosophy or those who are in favour of peripateticphilosophy hold that achieving happiness or a desireable political order requires a utopian leader and these characteristics are found only in the Infallible Imam, i.e. the perfect man.The main difference between these two philosophical schools is that peripatetic philosophers think that Imam mainly has a political function (leading political society to the state in which individuals can take on of perfections), but according to the philosophers who advocate transcendent theosophy, the main function of Imam is gnostic and spiritual. However, each of them considers Imam as the most perfect individual in society.