Ravanshenasi & Din

The thinkers in the area of psychology and philosophy disagree on whether man has one dimension, i.e. only body or soul, or he is two-dimensional or three-dimensional. Meanwhile, Sadr al-Muta’allehin and Viktor Frankl (the pioneer of meaning therapy) consider human beings to have three dimensions. According to Sadr al-Muta’allehin, man has three dimensions: body, soul and intellect, and according to Frankl, man has three dimensions of body, mind and soul. The purpose of this research is to describe man’s existential structure more precisely in order to better explain human phenomena and take a step towards the realization of Islamic psychology. Using the "descriptive-analytical" and "transhistorical application" methods, this research compares these two viewpoints. One of the findings of this research is that the views of Sadr al-Muta’allehin and Viktor Frankl have many differences in their ontological and epistemological foundations. However, they have similarities in some principles like the principle of "human purposefulness" and differences; Sadr al-Muta’allehin believes in the purposefulness of God and the world while Frankel denies it. With regard to man’s structure, these two views have the greatest similarity in the body dimension and the greatest difference in the psyche and soul dimension. Sadra considers the soul to be essence and Frankl considers it to be accidental. In the third dimension, i.e. soul or intellect, there are five similarities and five differences between these two theories. Sadr al-Muta’allehin's view is more successful in explaining man’s existential structure and is closer to reason and narrations. Belief in three human dimensions has a direct effect on counseling and treatment.