A Comparative Study of Argument from Soul in Islamic and Western Philosophy

Scholars and Philosophers have tried to prove the existence of Allah in different ways، of which one is the way of soul. The argument thus presented is known as the argument from soul. In Islamic philosophy، Suhrawardi، who had dealt with psychology as the starting point of his philosophy، was the first philosopher who attempted to prove God in this way. Subsequent philosophers such as Mulla Sadra، Sabzwari and Allama Tabatabaei followed in his footsteps. In Western philosophy، Descartes who had declared the existence of a thinker and his thought as the foundation of his philosophy، tried to prove God through the existence of soul and the existence of the concept of Allah with it. Though the argument presented by Descartes is called ''trademark argument''، it can also be called argument from soul and thus it can also be compared with the argument from soul in Islamic philosophy. Descartes'' argument is however incomplete، for it is based on a formulation of the principle of causality in which the ontological features of mental concepts are confused with their epistemological features. The argument from soul is، nevertheless، complete in Islamic philosophy.