Philosophy of Religion Research
Allamah Jafari on the Explanation of Will ('Iradah) and Free Will ('Ikhtiyar): A Confrontation with Transcendental Wisdom (Hikmah Muta'aliyah) and Na'ini's School
Document Type : Original Research
Author
Professor of philosophy at Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Having the intention of improving philosophers' theory about voluntary action, the proponents of Na'ini's school introduced two concepts of seeking (Talab) and sovereignty (Saltanah). One can see disagreement between philosophers and Na'ini's school on their theories about the origin of humans' will. According to Na'ini's school, the analysis of humans' free will, reveals that its root is their soul's sovereignty. Meanwhile, the examination of Allamah Jafari's thought shows that his theory about this problem differs from both philosophers and Na'ini's school. Based on his anthropological principles, he starts talking about determination and free will from humans' self-love and considers free will as the action and effect of the soul. Different souls mean different free will and personalities. Introducing a new definition for free will as an "I" who oversees the positive and negative aspects of an action, he discusses the role of "I" in originating free will and fulfilling a voluntary act.
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