From the sovereign bonum to the perfection of being. A Re-examination of the Concept of Happiness in the Thought of Plato and Sadr al-Muta'allihin Shirazi

The central question of this study iswhat does human happiness signify in Plato’s thought, and how does this conception relate to the theory of happiness found in Mulla Sadra’s Transcendent Philosophy? Employing adescriptive-analytical method and a comparative approach, this research first examines the concept of happines with a particular focus on Plato’s Republic and subsequently compares it with Mulla Sadra’s anthropological and ontological foundations.. In contrast, within Sadrian philosophy happiness assumes deeper ontological dimension. From Mulla Sadra’s perspective, the human soul undergoes motion and evolution ascending from lower levels of existence to higher ones through substantial motion ultimate goal of this motion is divine proximity and the realization of the soul’s existential perfection. comparison of these two perspectives reveals that both philosophers share common ground in rejecting hedonism, emphasizing the role of knowledge, prioritizing inner perfection over wealth and power, and linking happiness with virtue; however their fundamental premises differ.Plato’s philosophy Theory of Forms and the Idea of the Good constitute epistemological and ethical structure of happiness whereas in Sadra’s thought, the primacy of existence th gradation of existence, and substantial motion form the ontological framework of happiness. Thus it can be said that Platonic happiness is primarily the rational-moral order and actualization of the soul in the light of the knowledge of the Good whereas Sadrian happiness is the existential perfection and self-perfecting of the soul along the path of true knowledge virtue, and nearness to God