philosophy
محمد مهدی کمالی
Abstract
IntroductionOne of the new phenomena of the modern era is the possibility of changing gender through surgery and the formation of a new society called the transsexual society. Unlike hermaphrodite, who has both male and female genitals, trans refers to a man or woman who has a completely male or female ...
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IntroductionOne of the new phenomena of the modern era is the possibility of changing gender through surgery and the formation of a new society called the transsexual society. Unlike hermaphrodite, who has both male and female genitals, trans refers to a man or woman who has a completely male or female body, but has opposite sex tendencies and considers himself mentally and psychologically male or female, contrary to the sexual structure of his body. Today, gender reassignment has become somewhat socially and culturally acceptable and is even being accepted in jurisprudential and legal terms, but is gender reassignment really possible from a rational and philosophical perspective?In this article, we will look at the subject of trans from a philosophical perspective and examine the possibility of changing gender through surgery from the perspective of the psychology of Islamic philosophy and based on the principles of Sadra'i philosophy. The most important issue that will be examined in this research is whether the soul, like the body, has a gender or not. And if the answer is yes, does changing the body's genital structure also change the gender of the soul or not? Is the transgender community's claim that a male soul resides in a female body or vice versa reasonable? Is it possible for a male or female soul to grow in a body that is not of the same gender? Islamic philosophy, especially transcendental wisdom, has valuable discussions about the soul and the body and their relationship that can guide us in understanding and confronting this phenomenon and answering the above questions. Literature ReviewAlthough there has been considerable research on the issue of trans and gender reassignment by academic centers, research on this issue has not been conducted from the perspective of philosophical psychology. Most of the research conducted is from the perspective of medicine, jurisprudence, law, sociology, and mental and psychological problems. Islamic philosophy has rich discussions about the soul and its relationship with the body, which can help us in solving the enigma of trans and commenting on the possibility of gender reassignment and, consequently, whether it is permissible or not. MethodologyIn this study, using a descriptive-analytical method, we first examined the issue of soul and gender, and then we explored the issue of trans and gender reassignment. In this regard, we will also take a look at the findings of empirical sciences regarding how gender is formed in the womb. ConclusionBased on the findings of this study, changing gender through surgery is either fundamentally not possible or, assuming it is possible, is not logical. If the soul has no gender and gender is the body, and the person's body is perfect in terms of masculinity and femininity in every way, there is no logical justification for surgery. And if the soul has a gender, then due to the proportionality between cause and effect, or matter and form, it necessarily has a gender that matches the body. In other words, whether the soul forms the body and their relationship is a cause-and-effect relationship, or whether the body is completely formed by God and the soul has no agency in its creation and the body is merely a place for the soul, in any case, there is a complete correspondence between the soul and the body, and it is not possible for the soul and the body to be opposites in terms of gender. Therefore, it is fundamentally impossible to change gender; because surgery does not change the truth of masculinity and femininity, but only the appearance of the body; that is, the inner and true nature of a person, which is his soul, is unchanged and remains the same. Therefore, it can be said that the only result of surgery is the creation of imperfect men-like women and imperfect women-like men. It is necessary to re-emphasize that the issue of transgender people is different from bisexual people, and what was said was about transsexuals, not bisexuality. Trans is a type of mental illness in which a person suffers from the illusion of gender crisis and imagines himself as a man or a woman, contrary to the natural structure of his body. One should not play in the field of illusion of this person and fuel his illusions. Rather, instead of surgery, he should be given psychotherapy and removed from the illusion of gender disorder.
Mozhgan Mohammadi
Abstract
The position of emotions in Aristotle's thought is often identified with his theory of the weakness of the will, but the study of his works shows that emotions play a wider and more complex role in mental activities. For him, there is a deep and mutual relationship between emotions and other mental functions ...
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The position of emotions in Aristotle's thought is often identified with his theory of the weakness of the will, but the study of his works shows that emotions play a wider and more complex role in mental activities. For him, there is a deep and mutual relationship between emotions and other mental functions and activities. That is, both emotions affect the rational part functions of the soul and the rational part functions affect the emotions and their intensity and weakness. In this article, for explaining the claim of the reciprocal relationship between emotion and the rational part, after expressing what emotion is and how it works in the mind, on one hand, we will study the influence of emotion on the rational part of the soul and examine its role in the will, power of judgment, and sensory perception. In our view, contrary to popular belief, emotions are not just a dangerous threat to ethics and rationality, rather, they can play a serious role in strengthening rationality. On the other hand, to understand the effect of the rational part on emotions, we will examine the role of some mental activities in the production of pleasure, pain, and emotions such as friendship, compassion, and resistance to the motivational force of emotions. We will also explain that mental functions do not work the same in creating emotions, there is also a direct relationship between the intensity and weakness of mental functions and the intensity and weakness of emotions.
mahdi ganjvar
Abstract
The problem of "immortality" - as an innate thing - can be studied from various aspects: revelatory, mystical, intellectual and philosophical. In this paper, Spinoza's conception of soul and immortality is critically analyzed while drawing on the principles of transcendental Philosophy. Spinoza, like ...
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The problem of "immortality" - as an innate thing - can be studied from various aspects: revelatory, mystical, intellectual and philosophical. In this paper, Spinoza's conception of soul and immortality is critically analyzed while drawing on the principles of transcendental Philosophy. Spinoza, like Sadr al-Muta'llehin, believes in immortality of soul; but they differ by the fact that Spinoza denies, on the one hand, the substantiality of the soul and, on the other hand, believes that immortality is non-inclusive and acquired. Therefore, the acquisition of immortality for Spinoza is conditioned by gaining some qualifications and removal of some obstacles. Accordingly, only those souls experience immortality who are qualified by certain terms. Mulla Sadra, however, believes that immortality is genetic and essential for the soul, and therefore includes every single one.
The conception and explanation of how immortality is acquired and how it relates to human happiness in Spinoza, compared with the view of Mulla Sadra, constitutes the most part of the paper. The method of this research is descriptive-analytic with critical approach.
mohammad rezai
Abstract
Mulla Sadra devotes considerable attention to the soul as the subject and considers it to be a creative being. As realization of perceptions is one of the fundamental subjects of epistemology, this article claims that reliance on the creativity of soul during the process of perception does not guarantee ...
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Mulla Sadra devotes considerable attention to the soul as the subject and considers it to be a creative being. As realization of perceptions is one of the fundamental subjects of epistemology, this article claims that reliance on the creativity of soul during the process of perception does not guarantee the eidetic objectivity of perceptions with material beings as a part of perception; however, the forms created by the soul, i.e. subjects known indirectly become objects known by presence thanks to the creativity of soul. Whatever their relation with the subjects known indirectly, they could not b claimed to have eidetic objectivity. Moreover, the unity between soul and active intellect could not prove that the mental forms should necessarily have eidetic objectivity with material beings.
huran akbar zadeh
Abstract
Unlike Avicenna and Sohrevardi, Mulla Sadra believes in the creativity of soul in sense and imaginal perceptions while at first glance he seems to hold different and even contradictory views on intellectual perception. His most significant views on intellectual perception fall into three categories: ...
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Unlike Avicenna and Sohrevardi, Mulla Sadra believes in the creativity of soul in sense and imaginal perceptions while at first glance he seems to hold different and even contradictory views on intellectual perception. His most significant views on intellectual perception fall into three categories: distant observation of illuminative forms, expansion of images on the basis of Rashh and dissolution of soul in God to the point of Fana (self-annihilation). Mulla Sadra declared the third approach his final view; however, contemporary commentators of transcendental philosophy have sought to justify the three of them. The author of this paper supports the view that Mulla Sadra considered each of these approaches a stage of intellectual perception and believed that the soul observes the intellectual images from distance due to its weakness in the first stage; then unites with intellectual images in the second stage while moving toward perfection and finally becomes the creator of intellectual images as it reaches the pinnacle of perfection and self-annihilation. Therefore, the weaker the self is, the weaker its perception is and vice versa. In conclusion, only the steadfast seekers of knowledge and perfect men will attain the final stage of intellectual perception.
behzad mortezai
Abstract
In the history of Islamic Philosophy, since Farabi's time to the present, the faculty of imagination and imaginary forms have been among so important issues that some scholars have claimed that this is one of the distinct features of the Islamic philosophy. Farabi has explained his theory of prophecy ...
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In the history of Islamic Philosophy, since Farabi's time to the present, the faculty of imagination and imaginary forms have been among so important issues that some scholars have claimed that this is one of the distinct features of the Islamic philosophy. Farabi has explained his theory of prophecy based on the imaginal world. Ibn Sina, Suhrawardi, Mulla Sadra, and their followers succeeded to reconcile religion and philosophy, intuition and argumentation, transmitted sciences and reason based on the idea of imaginal world. The main issue discussed in the present article is states of the soul in the station of imagination; and the most important issue discussed here is arguments posed to prove immateriality of the soul which is of paramount importance in "knowledge of the soul" and is regarded as an important development in philosophical "knowledge of the soul". When immateriality of the soul in the station of imagination is somehow proved, it will be proved that, in spite of views posed by the Peripatetics and Illuminationists, man is not a two-dimensional being (consisted of body and reason); but rather, he enjoys three dimensions and three existential modes: material and corporal mode, formal and purgatorial mode, and rational mode. For the latter, Mulla Sadra has posed many arguments and, as he stipulates, he is the first one in the history of philosophy who has proved some immateriality and independence from body for the faculty of imagination. These arguments are studied and discussed in the present article.
reza akbarian; amili noigeliz
Abstract
Even though Mulla Sadra and Jacob Boehme come from two different traditions and despite the absence of philosophical formation of the latter, a similar visionary experience led them to lay the basis of a conception of man which has many shared aspects. The issue of the relation between his body and soul ...
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Even though Mulla Sadra and Jacob Boehme come from two different traditions and despite the absence of philosophical formation of the latter, a similar visionary experience led them to lay the basis of a conception of man which has many shared aspects. The issue of the relation between his body and soul enables us to seize some of these similarities, especially concerning the aim of man's terrestrial life in light of eschatology. In both cases, terrestrial life enables man to grow progressively his own "body of resurrection" which will remain in the outer world after the death of his material body. However, on the basis of his conception of the principiality and unity of existence as well as its modulated nature, Mulla Sadra presents a conception of the relation of body and soul characterized by a deep unity, and introduces the central notion of creative imagination, whereas Boehme conceives their relation through a frame of his ontology marked by a perpetual opposition of contraries. Nevertheless, both thoughts grant a great importance to body since, although it is the place of perpetual temptation and may induce man’s fall, it is also, and above all, a "temple" in which a celestial body is progressively constituted. This "body of resurrection" will remain after the death of the corporal body, taking the shape of the person's thought and acts during his terrestrial life. Therefore, this vision led both philosophers to account for the personal dimension of resurrection, and the centrality of the individual.
reaz akbarian; tayebeh karami
Abstract
The relationship between incorporeal and material things is one of the most important issues in philosophy. Two-fold nature of Soul let it to be mediation between the intellect and the matter. This role of the soul is explained differently in the Plotinus and Mulla-sadra's philosophy. In Plotinus’ ...
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The relationship between incorporeal and material things is one of the most important issues in philosophy. Two-fold nature of Soul let it to be mediation between the intellect and the matter. This role of the soul is explained differently in the Plotinus and Mulla-sadra's philosophy. In Plotinus’ philosophy, the soul has two parts: higher and lower. The higher part is connected to the intellect realm and the lower one associated with the body. The soul is absolutely unaffected even in the lower part. Nature, which is the manifestation of the universal soul, is the mediator between the body and the immaterial soul. But soul in Mulla-sadra's point of view is not completely immaterial. The soul can become immaterial through the substantial movement. As a result, the soul involves the immaterial and corporeal worlds.
fatemeh sadegh zadeh ghamsari
Abstract
Among the perceptual faculties of soul, common sense has a special place. Without giving a clear picture of it, Aristotle attributes functions such as perception of common sense impressions and sense impressions by accident and recognition of aspects of distinction between objects and comprehension of ...
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Among the perceptual faculties of soul, common sense has a special place. Without giving a clear picture of it, Aristotle attributes functions such as perception of common sense impressions and sense impressions by accident and recognition of aspects of distinction between objects and comprehension of feeling to this faculty. Whereas Aristotle has clearly rejected common sense alongside the five senses, Ibn Sina and his followers regard it as one of the internal senses and attribute some of soul`s functions to it. Islamic philosophers, notably Ibn Sina, by removing certain ambiguities , putting forward reasons for proving it, and by enumerating other functions for it have reinforced Aristotle`s theory. It seems that common sense at most can be regarded as a vehicle for accepting and perceiving the sense impressions or the head of external senses; it employs the senses and then perceives the sense impressions. For this reason the act of issuing any judgment should be regarded as act by soul or attributed to the faculty of thinking. Despite the fact that the subject of knowing soul from Aristotle and Ibn Sina`s point of view have always attracted the attention of various thinkers and also each for his own part has done his best it enrich this subject, nonetheless it should be said that there are still questions that can be raised about the relation and interaction between soul, external senses, common sense and faculty of thinking that can only be illustrated properly by an exact study of subjects such as sense perception, imagination and faculties of soul.
