Avicenna on the Faculties of the Soul: A Critical Analysis with an Examination of Faḫr al-Dīn al-Rāzī’s Criticisms

This article examines Avicenna’s responses to three questions regarding the soul: (1) Why does the soul require faculties? (2) Why are the soul’s faculties multiple? (3) What is the criterion for their multiplicity? Avicenna uses the rule of one and the soul’s simplicity to explain these questions,...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Amirkhani, Sajad (Author) ; Varzdar, Keramat (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
Published: 2024
In: Oriens
Year: 2024, Volume: 52, Issue: 1/2, Pages: 112-149
Further subjects:B Faḫr al-Dīn al-Rāzī
B Avicenna
B generic difference
B the rule of one (qāʿidat al-wāḥid)
B faculties of the soul
Online Access: Presumably Free Access
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Summary:This article examines Avicenna’s responses to three questions regarding the soul: (1) Why does the soul require faculties? (2) Why are the soul’s faculties multiple? (3) What is the criterion for their multiplicity? Avicenna uses the rule of one and the soul’s simplicity to explain these questions, introducing multiple faculties to resolve the paradox of the soul performing various actions. He argues that the diversity of faculties is due to the generic difference between actions. Faḫr al-Dīn al-Rāzī raises four objections to Avicenna’s explanation. This paper also scrutinizes al-Rāzī’s objections to understand Avicenna’s theory better.
ISSN:1877-8372
Contains:Enthalten in: Oriens
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/18778372-12340034