Abstract

This paper tries to introduce a clear picture of the meaning of free will based on the foundations of the transcendental philosophy of Mulla Sadra (known as Hikmat al-Muta’alia). This illustrative image, which can resolve some of the ambiguities and challenges of the debate, has been achieved through three steps: 1. Finding all of the the meanings of free will discussed in the transcendental wisdom and categorizing them into proper categories, 2. examining the veracity of each of these meanings through their conceptual analysis based on the principles of Hikmat al-Muta’alia, 3. the exploration of the existential scope of the concept of will and the proof of its modulation. Out of this conceptual analysis, some important ambiguities and challenges were answered and these results were obtained: the clarification of the relationship between the concepts of “will” and “desire” (being synonyms or at least close in meaning) on one hand, and “will” and “knowledge” (being totally different in meaning) on the other; the discovery of a common and comprehensive meaning of will in God and the creatures (love and affection) which can prevent the refutation of the Devine Will; and at last, providing a firm rational base for rehabilitation from hard diseases through hopeful and positive thoughts.