Michael Ryan

PHH-3200

Cyrus Ali Zargar

Word Count: 543

TPT #2

While Al-Ghazali states in Deliverance from Error that the early Islamic

thinkers abandoned the notion of the eternal soul and therefore The Day of

Judgment, I cannot support his stance in regard with philosophers discussed and

read. In Al-Kindi’s work Discourse on the Soul, he is able to weave metaphor,

quotes, and stories on the nature of the soul from classical thinkers such as Plato

and Aristotle in order to come to a completely new ideology. Al-Kindi writes that

our purpose as humans is to cleanse the soul so it is able to ascend from the body

upon death to reside within “the light of the Creator” within the world of intellect

(Adamson 2018). This demonstrates that the higher purpose of humans is the

serve the soul or clean it enough that you be worthy of a higher life. This takes

restrain and the work on one’s self in order to achieve any sort of perfection.

Another juxtaposing view compared to Al-Ghazali would be that of Al-Razi, who

came to a more just ideology; the soul would depart upon death, and provided you

lived the “philosophical” life wherein you act with a sense of justice and seeking
knowledge, your soul would know never-ending joy (Goodman 1975). This too

presents the rational choices made by persons to be the ultimate means to an end;

your own choices will either damn or raise your soul. Living the philosophical life

is exemplar of normative Islam and its ideals. One thinker that somewhat strayed

from classical ideas was Avicenna, who through his Flying Man thought

experiment caused a great rift between his followers and those of Aristotle. This

thought experiment proved to Avicenna that the human body and the rational soul

were separate entities while Aristotle had always stated that they were one. These

ideas were revolutionary at the time and with the notion that the soul could

continue in the afterlife without the body rubbed against the grain for many

orthodox Muslims during his time yet was redeemed with later Christian

philosophers (West 2016). Despite “abandoning” the idea of the soul as according

to Al-Ghazali, these ideas were held in high regard in the medieval European

world where they thrived for centuries, influencing many great works to come.

II: Al-Kindi

a: How his philosophy on the soul refutes the statements of Al-Ghazali and

what humans are meant to do during life.

 b: His notion of where the soul goes after death compared to that of Al-

Ghazali.

III: Al-Razi

a: The spiritual consequences for actions taken when alive.

b: The “philosophical” life compared to the notion of the abandonment of

the soul set in place by Al-Ghazali.

c: How Al-Razi’s ideologies are meant to be a perfect example of the

normative standards of Islam throughout history.

IV: Avicenna

a: Flying Man thought experiment and how it separated from the ideas of

the soul of Aristotle.

b: The criticism that Avicenna received during his own time for

“abandoning” the rational soul yet being appreciated by later thinkers.

 Conclusion: The early Islamic philosophers covered so far do not fall

under the category of “beasts” as they have been laid out to be by Al-Ghazali and

were fully able to conduct themselves in a moral manner despite their different

views.