Ghazali's Interpretation of Aristotelian Psychology and its Critique

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 PhD Student, Comparative Philosopphy, Faculty of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran

2 Professor, Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages, AllamehTabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran

10.22061/orj.2022.1756

Abstract

This research wants to find the answer of this question that in defining soul by Al-Ghazali, how much he has followed Aristotle and is Al-Ghazali's interpretation of the Aristotelian psychology, a theological interpretation, or philosophical one, or both of them.
Aristotle, while presenting two types of natural and metaphysical definitions of the soul, in natural definition, considers the soul relation to the body and in metaphysical definition, independent. He considers the knowledge of the soul in relation to the knowledge of the living being, but Al-Ghazali, with a religious approach and from the perspective of Shari'at, considers the knowledge and truth of the soul, related to the truth of death and self-knowledge; emphasizing the need to know the human soul to achieve divine knowledge. He considers the soul as a mirror, looking into which, one may meet God. In his philosophical definition of the soul, Al-Ghazali like Aristotle, states that the soul is the first perfection and believes that the soul is perceived only by reason.

Keywords

References

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Journal of Ontological Researches
Volume 11, Issue 21
September 2022

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