Human Soul and the Philosophy of Transubstantial Motion
Syed Jafri, MBBS, Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Texas McGovern School of Medicine
Acknowledging existence of human soul profoundly changes our world view and affects every aspect of human life. Mulla Sadra Shirazi, a 17th century Muslim philosopher gave a comprehensive description of human soul in his magnum opus work called Asfaar. In this presentation I will discuss human soul from the perspective of his philosophy of transubstantial motion. According to Sadra “Soul is corporeal in its advent and spiritual in its survival and perfection” i.e. soul is neither eternal nor a separate entity that existed prior to creation of body and later joined it, rather soul is created along with the body. Human beings exist as a unit of body and soul, representing two grades of existence of a single entity, one more perfect than the other with mutual interdependence. The stimulus for generation of human soul is the “inblowing of Divine Spirit” in the primitive but proportioned body. This interaction leads to development of human soul which is an intermediate between the body and the Spirit having features of both.
According to Sadra, existence is a single gradational reality that includes different levels starting from the highest level of existence which is the Necessary existence i.e. God to the lowest levels of existence i.e. ordinary matter. In between there are various levels or grades of existence. Within existence there is movement towards perfection. According to philosophy of transubstantial motion in a particular being motion happens not only in the quantity, quality, place and position but also in the very substance of that being. The inner nature of a being is fluid and its substance is subject to change and movement. e.g. movement from a seed to a plant and then mature tree This movement is responsible of generation of soul from the material body. Thus human soul is generated by the process of transubstantial motion of the body initially forming as corporeal entity and gradually becoming spiritual.
Human soul exists in various degrees. In the fetus it starts at the level of vegetal soul having properties of nutrition & growth. Then it becomes animal soul with features of movement and perception. With intellectual maturity it becomes a rational soul. The human body-soul unit can be envisioned as a continuous spectrum on the one end of it is the physical body followed by vegetal soul, then animal soul and finally rational soul. The various faculties of human soul do not make soul a composite structure instead these faculties are actualized in the soul such that there is unity of soul’s attributes and its essence.
This body -soul model gives new insight into many aspects of field of medicine including human physiology, embryology, perception, sleep medicine, ethical issues related with brain dead individuals, near death experience (NDE), human psychology and questions related to death some of which will be discussed in the presentation.The body-soul paradigm instead of currently accepted dogma of body only, can re-enchant the field of medicine taking it to the next level.
Acknowledging existence of human soul profoundly changes our world view and affects every aspect of human life. Mulla Sadra Shirazi, a 17th century Muslim philosopher gave a comprehensive description of human soul in his magnum opus work called Asfaar. In this presentation I will discuss human soul from the perspective of his philosophy of transubstantial motion. According to Sadra “Soul is corporeal in its advent and spiritual in its survival and perfection” i.e. soul is neither eternal nor a separate entity that existed prior to creation of body and later joined it, rather soul is created along with the body. Human beings exist as a unit of body and soul, representing two grades of existence of a single entity, one more perfect than the other with mutual interdependence. The stimulus for generation of human soul is the “inblowing of Divine Spirit” in the primitive but proportioned body. This interaction leads to development of human soul which is an intermediate between the body and the Spirit having features of both.
According to Sadra, existence is a single gradational reality that includes different levels starting from the highest level of existence which is the Necessary existence i.e. God to the lowest levels of existence i.e. ordinary matter. In between there are various levels or grades of existence. Within existence there is movement towards perfection. According to philosophy of transubstantial motion in a particular being motion happens not only in the quantity, quality, place and position but also in the very substance of that being. The inner nature of a being is fluid and its substance is subject to change and movement. e.g. movement from a seed to a plant and then mature tree This movement is responsible of generation of soul from the material body. Thus human soul is generated by the process of transubstantial motion of the body initially forming as corporeal entity and gradually becoming spiritual.
Human soul exists in various degrees. In the fetus it starts at the level of vegetal soul having properties of nutrition & growth. Then it becomes animal soul with features of movement and perception. With intellectual maturity it becomes a rational soul. The human body-soul unit can be envisioned as a continuous spectrum on the one end of it is the physical body followed by vegetal soul, then animal soul and finally rational soul. The various faculties of human soul do not make soul a composite structure instead these faculties are actualized in the soul such that there is unity of soul’s attributes and its essence.
This body -soul model gives new insight into many aspects of field of medicine including human physiology, embryology, perception, sleep medicine, ethical issues related with brain dead individuals, near death experience (NDE), human psychology and questions related to death some of which will be discussed in the presentation.The body-soul paradigm instead of currently accepted dogma of body only, can re-enchant the field of medicine taking it to the next level.