Philosophy of Religion Research

Analysis of Cognitive Symptoms of Depressive Disorder with Emphasis on Mulla Sadra’s Views: A Case Study of Feelings of Absurdity and Sadness

Document Type : Original Research

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy and Wisdom,, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran

2 Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran

10.30497/prr.2023.243180.1776

Abstract

Depressive disorder is one of the most common disorders that humans have been infected with throughout their lives. Considering the factors of this disorder, its cognitive and ontological symptoms, and despite all the psychological research done about it, there is still a gap in philosophical research in this field. Accordingly, the main question of the present research is: What is the perspective of Mulla Sadra regarding some cognitive symptoms of depression such as feelings of absurdity and sadness? The authors studied the views of Mulla Sadra with a descriptive-analytical method. The results show that the feeling of absurdity in humans is rooted in not finding the meaning of life, so that with a correct perception of the meaning of life this feeling and the resulting depression can be overcome to a great extent. Mulla Sadra believes that the cosmic end of the creation is the return to the supreme good, i.e. God. In this return, the human being, due to his/her exalted position among other creatures can have a volitional journey beside the cosmic one. In other words, two ends are defined for the human being: Cosmic and legislative. Moreover, by dividing sadness and happiness into the four types of sensory, imaginary, estimative, and intellectual, it is possible to better understand the types and levels of happiness and sadness. As a matter of fact, Mulla Sadra’s views give this insight that the feeling of sadness in depression is caused because a depressed person wrongly think that something is disagreeable with his/her nature.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Holy Quran
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Philosophy of Religion Research
Volume 22, Issue 1 - Serial Number 43
May 2024
Pages 1-23