Abstract

The question of perception constitutes one of the most complex and important sections of philosophical psychology. Unlike the Intellectual perception $, which met with more or less agreement among philosophers, particular perceptions and more specifically, sensory and imaginal perception were felt to be problematic. How do these kinds of perception occur and what is their reality? Is there any difference between particular and universal perceptions? This study deals with these problems from the standpoint of Sadr al-Din al-Shirazi, one of the greatest Islamic philosophers in the 16th and 17th century, whose work in this field is barely known. Comparing Mulla Sadra's contribution with that of his predecessors from both the Peripatetic and Illuminationist Schools, namely Ibn Sina and al-Suhrawardi this thesis attempts to explain what Mulla Sadra has offered as new ideas and new analyses in this regard. "The immateriality of perception," "unification of the subject and the object" and "the role of the soul in particular perception" are the main issues that are dealt with in this thesis.