Lecture by Reza Akbari Professor of Islamic Philosophy & Theology

Ibn Sina posits an interactionist perspective, asserting that a human being composes of a dualistic nature of the soul (nafs), which its essence is intellect (‘aql), and the body. Therefore, discussions about life after death in his philosophy can revolve around the life of the soul, the life of the body, or a combined life of both. However, Ibn Sina chose to focus primarily on the life of the soul. At times, he seems to attribute the resurrection of the body to religious beliefs, avoiding a philosophical discourse on the matter. Meanwhile, influenced by numerous Qur'anic verses linking paradise and hell with pleasure and pain, his discussion on the life of the soul often revolves around intellectual pleasure and pain. Given the fact that intellectual pleasure and pain are odd terms from the general public perspective, Ibn Sina first elucidates five principles related to sensory pleasure and pain and uses them as groundwork for explaining intellectual pleasures and pains. [...]