Abstract

The present article reviews the place of epistemology in the Transcendent Philosophy. In this regard, the author deals with mental existence and its history. There are two claims in the discussion of mental existence:1. The Division of existence into concrete and mental types2. The essential agreement between the concrete and mental existenceThe author is of the view that the proofs for mental existence, as presented in the Transcandent Philosophy, only confirm the first claim and are inadequate for explaining the second one; however, Mulla Sadra does not agree with this idea.By referring to issues such as the principiality of existence and the non-principiality of essence, trans-substantial motion, the abscence of essence in the truth of the concrete existence, imkani faqri,and the copulative nature of things other than God, and the personal unity of being, the author concludes that we can comprehend being not through acquired knowledge, but through knowledge by presence. He emphasizes that what is attained by acquired knowledge only consists of the concomitants and effects of being.