Ibn Sina and the Problem of the Immortality of the Soul

Unlike the prevailing idea, Ibn Sina is neither a loyal advocate of Aristotle nor a mere commentator of his ideas. He is an independent, distinguished, and Muslim Iranian philosopher. In the light of the criticisms targeted at Greek philosophy and Aristotle’s ideas, Ibn Sina intended to develop a new form of epistemology and lay the foundations of oriental philosophy.One of the controversial issues among thinkers is the problem of the soul and its trans-substantiality, immateriality, and immortality. Ibn Sina considers Aristotle’s ideas in this regard to be inadequate and contaminated with defects, mistakes, and confusion. Through criticizing Aristotle’s definition of the soul, Ibn Sina tries to introduce a novel approach to the problem of the soul, while rejecting the arguments of survival and finally devising a new theory concerning the immortality of the soul.The purpose of the present paper is to explore Aristotle’s ideas and Ibn Sina’s objections to them and also reveal the latter philosopher’s innovative ideas concerning the problem of the soul. The writer tries to demonstrate that Ibn Sina’s achievement regarding the issue of the soul and body is, in fact, a new solution to this problem. He also aims to show that it is a mistake to assume that Islamic philosophers still continue to follow Aristotle’s ideas. Ibn Sina must be considered as a pioneer in fundamental arguments on the subject of the soul and its immateriality.