Rereading and Criticizing the Reality of the Body from Theological and Philosophical Viewpoints, and Introducing a New Approach

This research with a descriptive-analytical method seeks to answer the old question "What is the body?" This question has been a topic of debate in the works of Ancient Greek and Islamic philosophical and theological scholars. The aim of this research is to achieve a precise definition of the body in order to obtain the conceptual foundations of various philosophical and religious topics. For this purpose, the lexical definitions of "body" and then by observing the chronological order of various scientific viewpoints, are reviewed. The most important of these viewpoints are Democritus, the Mutakallimun (theologians), and Peripatetic philosophers, Sheikh Ishraq, and Mulla Sadra. After examining and criticizing these viewpoints, the selected approach of this article will be presented: any entity possessing extension, whether it is tangible or intangible, or whether it consists of parts or is indivisible, is deemed a body, and from it the existence of the unit of intellect understands Hylomorphism concepts, physical form, and kind.