Analysis and Explanation of the Hierarchical Unity of Theoretical and Practical Intellect in Transcendent Philosophy and Its Implications

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Ph.D. Student in Transcendental Theosophy, Department of Islamic Philosophy and Theosophy, Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran.

2 Associate Professor, Department of Islamic Philosophy and Theosophy, Morteza Motahari Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran.

3 Professor, Department of Islamic Philosophy and Theosophy, Morteza Motahari Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran.

Abstract

In many prevailing approaches, particularly in certain non-Sadrian schools, the theoretical and practical intellects are often examined as two independent and separate faculties, and the ontological and epistemological relationship between them is not clearly explained. The central concern of this study is to analyze and explain the relationship between the theoretical and practical intellects, along with its implications, on the basis of the distinctive principles of Transcendent Philosophy (Hikmat al-Muta‘āliyah), such as the primacy of existence (asālat al-wujūd), the unity of existence, and the unity of the soul and its faculties. In this framework, the relationship departs from dualistic perspectives and is instead presented as a unified, hierarchical structure. The core question addressed in the article is how the unity of the theoretical and practical intellect, and its implications for the analysis of the relation between “is” and “ought,” can be explained according to Sadrian principles, and whether such unity can be affirmed without these foundations. Using a descriptive–analytical method, the study demonstrates that, according to the principles of Transcendent Philosophy, the theoretical and practical intellects are two cognitive aspects of a single reality, whose levels are realized in a correlative and mutually reinforcing manner along the path of the perfection of the rational soul. The findings indicate that this unity provides a philosophical framework for systematically linking “is” and “ought” as well as “knowledge” and “value”—a link that, in addition to its epistemic dimension, extends into existential, ethical, and educational domains.

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