A Proof for the Eternity of the Soul in Plato’s View and its Implication for Avicenna’s Argument from the Soul’s Simplicity for its Eternity (A Historical Consideration)

Document Type : The Quarterly Jornal

Authors

1 MA, Qom, Iran

2 Assistant professor, Imam Khomeini Institute, Qom, Iran

Abstract

In his Phaedo, Plato has presented three arguments for the soul’s posthumous eternity. The first two arguments are articulated in a mythical-philosophical way on the basis of consecutive cycles of births. The third argument presented by Plato for the soul’s survival after death is an argument from the soul’s simplicity. He maintains that what has no parts is not corruptible, and since the soul has no parts, it will be eternal after the bodily death and will not be annihilated. In Islamic philosophy, one of the most important issues about the soul is the soul’s eternity and its posthumous survival. Avicenna—the great Peripatetic philosopher—has presented arguments for the soul’s eternity. We believe that his most important argument is the argument for the soul’s eternity from simplicity, which was anticipated by Plato. In this paper, we seek to provide a historical consideration and analysis of Plato’s view and its impact on Avicenna’s simplicity argument. The method adopted by this paper is historical, involving citations of the texts, particularly those of Avicenna. The short reply to the main question of the paper is that Avicenna’s argument for the soul’s eternity from simplicity has a historical Platonic spirit.

Keywords

References

1. Aristotle. (1389). About the soul (A. Davoodi, Trans., 5th ed.). Tehran: Hekmat.
2. Beheshti, A. (1385). Abstract of the explanation of the seventh pattern from the book of signs and punishments. Qom: Bustaneketab.
3. Cooper, J. M., & Hutchinson, D. S. (1997). Plato Complete Works. Indianapolis: Hacket.
4. Copleston, F. (1388 AP). History of Philosophy (Greece and Rome) (S. J. Mojtaba, Trans., 6th ed.). Tehran: Soroush Publications.
5. Guthrie, W. K. C. (1376 AP). Socrates (H. Fathi, Trans.). Tehran: Fekr-e Rooz.
6. Ibn Sina. (1364 AP). Thesis of al-Azhwiyyah. Tehran: Ettela’at. [In Arabic].
7. Ibn Sina. (1371 AP). al-Mobahesat (M. Bidarfar, Ed.). Qom: Bidar. [In Arabic].
8. Ibn Sina. (1375 AP). al-Isharat wa al-tanbihat (Kh. N. Tusi, Ed.). Qom: al-Balagha. [In Arabic].
9. Ibn Sina. (1379 AP). Kitab al-Najat (M. T. Daneshpajooh, Ed., 2nd ed.). Tehran: University of Tehran Press. [In Arabic].
10. Ibn Sina. (1382 AP). al-Adhawiyya fi'l-ma'ad (H. Asi, Ed.). Tehran: Shams Tabrizi. [In Arabic].
11. Ibn Sina. (1383 AP). Kitab al-nafs (M. Amid, Ed., 2nd ed.). Hamedan: Bu ali University. [In Arabic].
12. Ibn Sina. (1392 AP). al-Isharat wa al-tanbihat (H. Malekshahi, Trans.). Tehran: Soroush. [In Arabic].
13. Ibn Sina. (1400 AH). al-Rasail. Qom: Bidar. [In Arabic].
14. Ibn Sina. (1404 AH a). al-Ta’liqat (A. R. Badawi, Ed.). Beirut: Islamic Media Library. [In Arabic].
15. Ibn Sina. (1404 AH b). Kitab al-Shifa' (theology) (S. Zayed, Ed.). Qom: Ayatollah Marashi Najafi (Ra) School. [In Arabic].
16. Ibn Sina. (1404 AH c). Tabiyat (Nafs) (S. Zayed, Ed.). Qom: Ayatollah Marashi Najafi (Ra) School. [In Arabic].
17. Ibn Sina. (1405 AH). The Logic of the Orientalists. Qom: Ayatollah Marashi Najafi (Ra) School. [In Arabic].
18. Ibn Sina. (1978). al-Insaf in Aristotle of the Arabs (A. Badawi, Ed., 2nd ed.). Kuwait: Press representative. [In Arabic].
19. Ibn Sina. (1989). The treatise on limits in the philosophical term in the Arab world (2nd ed.). Cairo: The Egyptian Public Library. [In Arabic].
20. Ibn Sina. (2007). A treatise on the soul, and its survival and its return (F. al-Ahwani, Ed.). Paris: Darbilbyon. [In Arabic].
21. Khorasani, Sh. (1370 AP). The First Greek Philosophers (2nd ed.). Islamic Revolution Publications and Education. [In Persian].
22. Nussbaum, M. (1389 AP). Aristotle (E. Fooladvand, Trans., 4th ed.). Tehran: Tarh-e No. [In Persian].
23. Plato. (1398 AP). Collection of works (M. H. Lotfi, Trans., 2nd ed.). Tehran: Kharazmi. [In Persian].
24. Taylor, A. E. (1393 AP). Aristotle (H. Fathi, Trans.). Tehran: Hekmat. [In Persian].
Naqd Va Nazar
Volume 25, Issue 99 - Serial Number 99
September 2020
Pages 54-74

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics