The Soul and Its Relationship to the Body in the Four Levels (With Emphasis on the View of Abu Ali Miskawayh)

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Islamic Studies, Faculty of Theology and Religions, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of Philosophy and Theology, Faculty of Theology and Religions, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

10.22059/jpht.2025.385591.1006085

Abstract

Man has a body and a soul. The perfections that man attains depend on the relationship between the two. This relationship can be examined in different stages from the soul's perspective، At the time of the creation of the soul, during life, at the time of death and after that. The present article aims to answer the question of the nature of the soul, its characteristics, and its relationship with the body in the above four stages, by focusing on the thoughts of Abu Ali Miskawayh and using a descriptive-analytical method. The achievement of this article is that the soul has an inherently abstract substance that is different from the body, and it is completely different from it in its essence, properties, actions, and effects. In the first stage, the soul arises at a later stage than the body. Of course, this lateness does not mean that the soul enters the body; rather, the soul arises when the body reaches a level of moderation in temperament where the effect of abstract planning appears in it. In the second stage, the body plays a merely instrumental role in fulfilling the will of the soul, and life is inherently for the soul and is consequently attributed to the body. At the time of death, the soul no longer controls the body and does not use it as a tool to achieve its goals. Essentially, the body is a body in order to be controlled by the soul, and the soul is a soul in order to control the body. Considering that at death this characteristic of the soul and body is destroyed, after death the body becomes a body that decays because it is not under the control of the soul. The characteristic of the soul, which was merely the control of the body, also disappears with the decay of the body, and the soul remains without this characteristic

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References

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Philosophy of Religion
Volume 22, Issue 4
January 2026
Pages 299-314

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