Re-Reading Mulla Sadra on the Intersection of Cognition and Emotion

Abstract

Human emotions are in connection with his deeds on the one hand and his perceptions on the other, and this complicates the analysis of emotion. Furthermore, any school of thought in search of presenting a comprehensive perspective on the human should clarify its stance with regard to emotion and the position it has in the structure of human cognition and deeds. This fact places the answer to the following questions in the field of philosophical anthropology: Does perception have a role in the development of emotions? Are emotions voluntary or involuntary like hunger and thirst? Is human soul passive in the creation of emotions, or does it play an active role? Is it possible to judge the reasonableness or unreasonableness of an emotion as a state that is mainly considered in contrast with rationality? Do all individuals experience similar affective states in similar conditions? In other words, are emotions typical or individual? In this paper, we try to answer these questions from the perspective of the forerunner of Transcendental Philosophy, Mulla Sadra Shirazi.