Rational and Scriptural Arguments for Immateriality of Soul from Allama Tabatabae's Viewpoint

Human soul is the most important part of human being which has been the subject of controversy throughout the history. Physicalists with various impulses attempt to deny soul altogether or regard it as material apart from immaterial world. By contrast, Allama Tabatabae demonstrates both the existence and immateriality of soul on basis of multifaceted arguments. To him soul is immaterial entity that belongs to the realm beyond the natural world. According to him human immaterial soul is not perceivable with material instruments nor can it be dealt with through laboratory experimentation. Self-awareness, esoteric vision and perception of its simplicity are among the arguments to which he appealed in order to prove both the existence and incorporeality of soul. The present article is an attempt to formulate Tabatabae’s various rational and revealed proofs for the immateriality of human soul. The author also tries to give an explanation and classification of them to his own satisfaction.