Methodology of Mullā Ṣadrā in Formulating the Theory of the ‎Soul’s Corporeal Origination and Spiritual Subsistence

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Assistant Professor, Department of Islamic Philosophy, Faculty of Theology and law, Azarbaijan Shahid ‎Madani University,Tabriz, Iran‎‎

Abstract

The dilemma of the soul’s origination or pre‑eternity represents one of the most enduring problems in Islamic philosophy. Each side of this dilemma faces serious difficulties: proponents of the soul’s pre‑eternity struggle to explain its relation to the body, while advocates of origination confront the problem of the soul’s enduring subsistence after bodily death. In addressing this dilemma, Mullā Ṣadrā adopts a distinctive methodological approach. He first reconstructs and critically examines the views of earlier philosophers and theologians, distinguishing defensible insights from elements that generate theoretical difficulties within their own frameworks. He then reinterprets selected elements within a new metaphysical perspective grounded in the principles of the primacy of existence, gradation of existence, and substantial motion. Through this process, he formulates the theory of the soul’s “corporeal origination and spiritual subsistence.” This study argues that Ṣadrā’s procedure reflects a form of methodological pluralism without eclecticism and shows notable affinity with the integrative model of interdisciplinary inquiry. Using a conceptual‑analytical approach, the article offers a systematic reconstruction and critical evaluation of this methodological framework in Ṣadrā’s treatment of the problem of the soul.

Keywords

References

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Theosophia Islamica
Volume 6, Issue 1 - Serial Number 11
January 2026
Pages 250-287

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