Part II. Theoretical Philosophy

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METAPHYSICAL PSYCHOLOGY

In this part Alfarabi discusses the various problems concerning the human soul.

THE SOUL IS A BEING QUITE DISTINCT FROM THE BODY

Alfarabi holds that the human soul is essentially distinct from the body, simply because he accepts the Aristotelian definition of the soul as the entelechy or the substantial form of the body. By this he means that the soul is the principle of life in man, a principle by which he thinks, feels and wills, and by which his body is animated. 82 This is also borne out by the fact that

Man is composed of two principles, body and soul. The body is composed of parts, limited by space, measurable, divisible; while the soul is free from all bodily qualities. The former is a product of the created world, while the latter is simply the product of the last separate intellect of the supersensible world. 83

SPIRITUALITY OF THE HUMAN SOUL

The soul of man is not only simple and indivisible, but it is also spiritual. That is, it is in itself independent of matter and can subsist apart from the body. He says:

The spirituality of the soul is demonstrated by its specific operations, which are intellection and volition. The operation of a being is according to the nature of the being itself (Actio sequitur esse). Now, intellect and will may attain to the abstract and immaterial; therefore, the soul itself must also be independent of matter.

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In addition to this, he says:

Omne agens agit sibi simile, which means that the effect must resemble its cause, for the soul can give to its operations only what it has itself. Therefore, the spiritual operations of the soul give us true knowledge of the nature of the soul itself. 84

IMMORTALITY OF THE HUMAN SOUL

Alfarabi held that the human soul cannot exist before the body, as Plato had said. Nor can it migrate from one body to another, as taught by the author of Metempsychosis. 85 However, it is very doubtful whether Alfarabi believed in the immortality of the human soul. For, he wrote passages for and against immortality. Against immortality we find the following passages:

The only thing that survives the dissolution of the body is the active intellect, the dator formarum which is incorruptible. 86

And in his lost commentary on the Nicomachean Ethics, he is reported by Averroes to have said that

The supreme good of man is in this life, and anything meant to attain it in the life to come is but folly; it is an old wives' tale.

In fact, toward the end of his treatise on the Passive Intellect and its union with the Active, Averroes quotes Alfarabi as saying in the commentary mentioned above that

Man's supreme good in this life is to attain knowledge. But to say that man after death becomes a separate form is an old wives' tale; for whatever is born and dies is incapable of becoming immortal.

This statement of Alfarabi brought much reproof on him, and

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for it Immanuel Ben Solomon, in his Final Judgment, consigns him to the infernal regions. 87

However, in contrast with these passages, we find one in favor of immortality. "After death," he says, "the human soul will be happy or unhappy according to its merits or demerits." 88 In the face of these statements for and against the immortality of the soul, it is difficult indeed to tell whether or not Alfarabi believed in it. Most probably he did not.

Footnotes

9:23 Alfarabi, The Scope of Aristotle In The Book of Metaphysics, in Collection, op. cit. pp. 40-44.

10:24 Alfarabi, A Letter in Reply to Certain Questions, in Collection, op. cit. n. 14, pp. 95-96.

11:25 Id. op. cit. N. 10, p. 94.

12:26 Alfarabi, The Sources of Questions, in Collection, op. cit., n. 1-2, p. 65.

12:27 St. Thomas, Quest. disp., De Veritate, Q. I, a. 1.

12:28 St. Thomas, Opusculum XXXIX, De Natura Generis, cap. II.

13:29 Alfarabi, The Scope of Aristotle in the Book of Metaphysics, in Collection, op. cit. p. 42.

13:30 Alfarabi, The Sources of Questions, in Collection, op. cit. n. 3 p. 66.

13:31 Alfarabi, The Gems of Wisdom, in Collection, op. cit. p. 174.

14:32 Alfarabi, A Letter in Reply to Certain Questions, in Collection, op. cit. n. 22, p. 101.

14:33 Alfarabi, The Gems of Wisdom, in Collection, op. cit. pp. 115-125.

14:34 Alfarabi, The Gems of Wisdom, in Collection, op. cit. pp. 115-125.

15:35 "But every essence or quiddity can be understood without anything being known of its existence; for, I can understand what a man is, and yet not know whether it has existence in the natural order. Therefore, it is clear that existence is a different thing from essence or quiddity, unless perchance there be something whose essence is its very existence. And this thing must needs be one and the first." St. Thomas De Ente et Essentia, c. 4, tr. from the Latin by Clare C. Riedl, Chapter IV, p. 34.

15:36 Alfarabi, Political Regime, 1 Arabic ed. p. 26.

16:37 Alfarabi, The Gems of Wisdom, in Collection, op. cit. p. 164.

16:38 Alfarabi, The Gems of Wisdom, in Collection, op. cit. pp. 164-165.

18:39 Alfarabi, Political Regime, 1st Arabic ed. Cairo, Nile Press, pp. 12-13.

19:40 Alfarabi, The Gems of Wisdom, in Collection, op. cit. p. 173.

19:41 Alfarabi, The Gems of Wisdom, in Collection, op. cit. pp. 115-125.

19:42 Alfarabi, What Must Precede the Study of Philosophy, in Collection, op. cit. n. 4, p. 62.

20:43 Alfarabi, The Sources of Questions, in Collection, op. cit. n. 13, pp. 70-71.

20:44 St. Thomas, Summa Theologica, part I, Q. 2, Art. 3.

20:45 Alfarabi, The Gems of Wisdom, in Collection, op. cit. pp. 115-125.

20:46 St. Thomas, Ibid. op. cit.

20:47 Alfarabi, The Sources of Questions, in Collection, op. cit. n. 2, p. 65.

21:48 Alfarabi, The Sources of Questions, in Collection, op. cit. n. 3, p. 66.

21:49 St. Thomas, Ibid. op. cit.

23:50 Alfarabi, The Knowledge of God, in Traites inedits d’anciens philosophes arabes. Published by Malouf, Edde and Cheiko, 2nd Arabic ed., Beirut, 1911, pp. 21-22.

23:51 St. Thomas, Summa Contra Gentiles, first bk. Tr. by the English Dominican Fathers, chap. XIV, p. 33.

23:52 5t. Thomas, I Sent., III, quest. 1, a. 3.

24:53 Alfarabi, Political Regime. Second Arabic ed. Cairo, Nile Press, p. 2.

24:54 St. Thomas, Summa Contra Gentiles. First Bk., op. cit. Chap. XVIII, p. 39.

24:55 Alfarabi, The Gems of Wisdom, in Collection, op. cit. pp. 115-125.

24:56 St. Thomas, Summa Contra Gentiles, First Bk., Ch. XXII, p. 55.

25:57 Alfarabi, The Gems of Wisdom, in Collection, op. cit. p. 132.

25:58 St. Thomas, Summa Contra Gentiles. First Bk., Ch. XXV, p. 61.

25:59 Alfarabi, Political Regime. Second Arabic ed. Nile Press, p. 7.

25:60 St. Thomas, Summa Contra Gentiles. First Bk., Ch. XLIII, p. 96.

25:61 Alfarabi, Political Regime, op. cit. p. 7.

25:62 St. Thomas, Summa Theologica. Part I, Q. 9, Art. 1 ad 1, pp. 91-92.

26:63 Alfarabi, Political Regime, op. cit. pp. 3-5.

26:64 St. Thomas, Summa Contra Gentiles. First Bk., Ch. XLII, p. 90.

26:65 St. Thomas, Summa Theologica. Part I, Q. 11, Art. 3, pp. 116-117.

26:66 St. Thomas, Summa Theologica. Part I, Q. 4, Art. 2, p. 48.

26:67 Alfarabi, Id. op. cit. pp. 7-8.

26:68 St. Thomas, Summa Theologica. Part I, Q. 11, Art. 4, p. 118.

27:69 Alfarabi, Id., op. cit. p. 8.

27:70 St. Thomas, Summa Contra Gentiles. First Bk., Ch. XLIV, p. 100.

27:71 Alfarabi, Political Regime, p. 8-9.

27:72 St. Thomas, Summa Contra Gentiles. First Bk., Ch. XLVII, p. 105.

28:73 Alfarabi, The Gems of Wisdom, in Collection, op. cit., p. 170.

28:74 St. Thomas, Summa Theologica. Part I, Q. 14, Art. 5, p. 190.

28:75 Alfarabi, Political Regime, op. cit., pp. 10-11.

28:76 St. Thomas, Summa Contra Gentiles. First Bk., Ch. LXII, pp. 131-132.

28:77 Alfarabi, Political Regime, op. cit., p. 11.

28:78 St. Thomas, Summa Theologica. Part I, Q. 18, Art. 3, p. 255.

31:79 Alfarabi, The Sources of Questions, in Collection, op. cit. n. 6, pp. 67-75.

32:80 Alfarabi, The Sources of Questions, in Collection, op. cit. n. 6, pp. 67-68.

See also: Alfarabi, A Letter in Reply to Certain Questions, in Collection, op. cit. n. p. 93.

32:81 Alfarabi, The Sources of Questions in Collection, op. cit., n. 22, p. 75.

34:82 Alfarabi, A Letter in Reply to Certain Questions, in Collection, op. cit., n. 33, p. 108.

34:83 Alfarabi, The Gems of Wisdom, in Collection, op. cit., p. 145.

35:84 Alfarabi, The Gems of Wisdom, in Collection, op. cit., p. 145.

35:85 Alfarabi, The Sources of Questions, in Collection, op. cit., n. 22, p. 75.

35:86 Alfarabi, The Sources of Questions, in Collection, op. cit. n. 21, pp. 74-75.

36:87 Cf. Mahberot by Immanuel. Ch. XXVIII, Berlin. P. 251.

36:88 Alfarabi, The Sources of Questions, in Collection, op. cit., n. 22, p. 75.