An Ontological and Philosophical Inquiry on Near-Death Experiences with Sadraian Approach

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Ph.D. in Philosophy of Religion, Department of Theology and Philosophy of Religion, Imam Khomeini Education and Research Institute, Qom, Iran.

2 Assistant Professor, Department of Islamic Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Arak University, Arak, Iran.

Abstract

Near-death experience (NDE) is one of those issues that has recently caught the attention of the public and has raised concerns within the scholarly community. Various interpretations have been offered based on different assumptions. Relying on Mulla Sadra philosophy and employing a descriptive-analytical method, this article seeks to provide a philosophical explanation of the nature and characteristics of these experiences. Considering that humans have an ideal (mithali) and immaterial dimension in addition to the physical dimension, I have concluded that people with these experiences, through detachment from their bodies or via reducing attachment or attention to their bodies, concentrate on their “ideal and connective imaginal” (mithal wa Khiale muttasil) aspects of themselves, and have, consequently, conceived things they report. If these people are freed from the features of contiguous idea and imagination, such as a) being a reservoir and provider of sensory images, b) being an image-maker, c) being a space for the activities of the Satan, they will be transferred to the world of discontiguous idea (mithal munfasil) and perceive things from that realm. Due to the rarity of people who are able to free themselves from the power of imagination, what the general observers of near-death experiences perceive is in their contiguous imagination and idea. All extraordinary things that they undergo see, hear, touch, taste or smell in the contiguous or discontiguous idea have been perceived through their inner senses. Based on the direct role of the soul in perception, someone who reaches the level of ideal immateriality (tajurrd-i mithali) can also see the material world, even better than before reaching this level.
 

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