A comparative Survey on the Stages of Philosophical Training in Plato’s Allegory of Cave, in the Four Mystical Journeys, and in Mulla Sadra’s al-Asfar

Abstract

At the beginning of his magnum opus al-Hekmat al-Muta’aleiat fi al-Asfar
al-Aqliiat, Mulla Sadra says that he has nominated and arranged his book
according to “the four journeys” of the Mystics. What he and the Mystics
say on these journeys reminds those familiar with Greek philosophy of
Plato’s Phaedrus and Republic (Journey of souls onto sky and the Allegory of
Cave, respectively). In spite of his promise at the beginning of his book,
Mulla Sadra has not completely succeeded in arranging al-Asfar according
to the four journeys of the Mystics, especially the fourth journey. In this
paper, at first, we have a glance at Plato’s method of philosophical training,
his allegory of Cave and some positions on Mulla Sadra’s four journeys;
then we explain that in this respect the correspondence between Plato and
the mystics are more than that found between him and Mulla Sadra.