Abstract

Not only thinkers but also ordinary people agree that the role of ethics and its importance and effects in human life are undeniable. However, among scholars, philosophers, particularly philosophers of ethics, are the only people who seriously and extensively discuss the fundamental bases of ethics. They, too, in spite of all their disputes concerning peripheral issues, have no disagreement regarding the crucial role of the institution of ethics in determining one's fate and destiny.One of the important issues in the philosophy of ethics which has led to some disagreements among philosophers, and which other philosophical groups, such as theologians, have also dealt with is the criterion for the ethical goodness and badness or "beauty and ugliness" of various acts.In this paper, after giving an introduction and an important explanation about some of the common terms in relation to this discussion, the writer provides a short report of the ideas of Islamic theologians and Peripatetic philosophers so that the content of the discussion and its historical process of development are clarified and the ground is paved for the perception of Mulla Sadra's idea in this regard. Then his view of the beauty and ugliness of acts is indirectly inferred from his ideas concerning other issues. Unfortunately, we do not have access to his direct opinion on this topic.