Abstract

In its history which abounds in a lot of ups and downs, the Principle of the One has given rise to three main problems in Islamic culture: 1) the analysis of the content and conceptual structure of the principle, 2) the examination of its truth, and 3) an inquiry into its methodological role. Among the three, the second problem has been explored and discussed extensively in the past, and the following presents a precise but concise account of the third. Philosophers have referred to the principle of the One to prove a great many of philosophical problems. The question is whether this principle has the potential for explaining all those problems, or whether its explanatory and methodological role is limited to certain theological problems in particular. An accurate analysis of the issue reveals that the second response is correct and stands angainst resorting to the principle of the One in demonstrating logical, natural, and some theological problems in general. Mulla Sadra's solution to this problem, which has been propounded against that of Ibn-Sina, and which proves the plurality of the faculties of the soul on the basis of this principle, has aroused a lot of arguments among commentators.