University Of Tehran Press Social Theories of Muslim Thinkers 2538-5240 Articles in Press 2026 02 26 A Sadraean Interpretation of the Role of ’Imagination’ as the ’Intermediate Realm’ in Confronting the Subject-Object Dichotomy and the Crisis of Meaning Arising Therefrom, from/ Descartes to Nietzsche. A Sadraean Interpretation of the Role of ’Imagination’ as the ’Intermediate Realm’ in Confronting the Subject-Object Dichotomy and the Crisis of Meaning Arising Therefrom, from/ Descartes to Nietzsche. 106194 10.22059/jstmt.2025.404095.1833 FA Hossein Kachoeyan Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran. 0000-0002-1124-2633 Hamid Parsania Professor of Sociology, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran. Fatemeh Fallahnejad Tafti PhD Student in Social Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran. Journal Article 2025 10 19 The fundamental rupture between subject and object, initiated by Descartes and perpetuated in modern philosophy, became the primary cause for the elimination or reduction of the role of the imaginitrix as an "intermediary reality." Although this reduction was countered in German Idealism (Kant) with attempts to revive the transcendental imaginary, it ultimately failed due to its confinement within a subject-centric epistemology and the preservation of metaphysical dualism. This trajectory culminated in the rebellion of the imaginary/will against reason in Nietzsche, intensifying the crisis of nihilism and existential meaning in the modern world. Using a directed content analysis methodology and comparative study of primary texts, this article aims to provide a Sadrian reading for transcending this crisis. The research novelty lies in elucidating the ontological potential of the imaginitrix in Transcendent Theosophy, contrasting it with the modern reduction to the subjective connected imaginary. Mulla Sadra, by proving the duality of the "connected imaginitrix" and the "separated imaginitrix" (the Mundus Imaginalis), portrays the imaginitrix as an intermediary (Barzakhi) and semi-abstract reality that establishes not only the link between intellect and sense but also the existential connection between the intelligible world ('Alam al-'Aql) and the material world ('Alam al-Madda). In this framework, the Soul (Nafs), being "corporeal in inception and spiritual in subsistence" (jismāniyyat al-ḥudūth wa rūḥāniyyat al-baqā'), is considered to possess an imaginitrix nature and to be an intermediate species. Contemplation (Tafakkur) is identified as the final act of the imaginitrix soul. This nature facilitates the intensified movement (ḥarakat ishtidādī) of the soul from immersion in the material to the stage of intellectual transcendence, re-establishing a transcendent (not transcendental) meaning of existence, transforming the subject/object rupture into a synthetic-perfectionist unity, and offering a monotheistic vista for confronting modern nihilism. The fundamental rupture between subject and object, initiated by Descartes and perpetuated in modern philosophy, became the primary cause for the elimination or reduction of the role of the imaginitrix as an "intermediary reality." Although this reduction was countered in German Idealism (Kant) with attempts to revive the transcendental imaginary, it ultimately failed due to its confinement within a subject-centric epistemology and the preservation of metaphysical dualism. This trajectory culminated in the rebellion of the imaginary/will against reason in Nietzsche, intensifying the crisis of nihilism and existential meaning in the modern world. Using a directed content analysis methodology and comparative study of primary texts, this article aims to provide a Sadrian reading for transcending this crisis. The research novelty lies in elucidating the ontological potential of the imaginitrix in Transcendent Theosophy, contrasting it with the modern reduction to the subjective connected imaginary. Mulla Sadra, by proving the duality of the "connected imaginitrix" and the "separated imaginitrix" (the Mundus Imaginalis), portrays the imaginitrix as an intermediary (Barzakhi) and semi-abstract reality that establishes not only the link between intellect and sense but also the existential connection between the intelligible world ('Alam al-'Aql) and the material world ('Alam al-Madda). In this framework, the Soul (Nafs), being "corporeal in inception and spiritual in subsistence" (jismāniyyat al-ḥudūth wa rūḥāniyyat al-baqā'), is considered to possess an imaginitrix nature and to be an intermediate species. Contemplation (Tafakkur) is identified as the final act of the imaginitrix soul. This nature facilitates the intensified movement (ḥarakat ishtidādī) of the soul from immersion in the material to the stage of intellectual transcendence, re-establishing a transcendent (not transcendental) meaning of existence, transforming the subject/object rupture into a synthetic-perfectionist unity, and offering a monotheistic vista for confronting modern nihilism. https://jstmt.ut.ac.ir/article_106194_d6b0261e5c877ef8e90d261cb02ddead.pdf