The Power of Synthetic Discourse: Epistemology and Authority in Mullā Ṣadrā’s Philosophy

In my paper, I seek to critically analyze the epistemological discourse used by the Safavid philosopher Mullā Ṣadrā (d. 1045/1635-6) in its mutual relationship with the discourse of Shi‘ite authority. Not only is Mullā Ṣadrā’s philosophical system an organic whole in which a variety of human sciences are fused together, but also for him philosophy is a way of life, hence the relevance of the epistemic discourse he develops to religious and political context of his thought. Knowledge for Mullā Ṣadrā is not simply the content of the mind, but it is, as a form of being, existentially related to and identified with it. In this light, I will examine the discursive force of Mullā Ṣadrā’s theory of knowledge in rationalizing and intellectually establishing the authoritarian thought in Twelver Shi‘ism. In my analysis of the mutual empowerment of philosophical, theological, and mystical discourses in the epistemology of Mullā Ṣadrā, the term “synthetic discourse” plays a key role and Foucault provides me with the general interpretive perspective of the study of knowledge/ power dynamics and the relations between different discourses. From this perspective, I would argue that by relying on the power of synthetic discourse, Mullā Ṣadrā reinforces the relationship between epistemology and political authority. For example, it will be demonstrated that in his work the scriptural-theological narrative of “naming” of things by Adam gathers force along with the mystical narrative of divine names, which is in turn empowered by the theological discourse of divine attributes. The resultant complex discourse is intertwined with the philosopher’s epistemology that helps to rationalize/intellectually establish the absolute authority of the imam/perfect human/walī by virtue of his absolute knowledge. Apart from Mullā Ṣadrā’s magnum opus, al-Asfār, and some other major treatises, I am consulting his Commentary on Uṣūl al-kāfī, with an emphasis on “Kitāb al-ḥujja”.