The Nature of the Soul from Mullā Ṣadrā and John Hick’s Viewpoint

Abstract

What this essay is to discuss is Mullā Ṣadrā and John Hick’s viewpoint about the "nature of the soul". Mullā Ṣadrā considers the real nature of human beings to be "the immaterial soul" based on his own principles in the science of the soul. He explains the nature of the soul with respect to substantial motion that the human being is corporeal in coming into being and the immateriality of the human soul in survival and afterlife. John Hick considers the consciousness as the most basic characteristic of mind, which is identical with the soul. He considers the nature of the soul as “human self” which forms his truth. Most of the viewpoints of both thinkers are similar or close to each other such as belief in the existence of the soul and being two-dimensional, quality of Genesis, substantiality, incorporeity, and corporeality of coming into the soul.

Keywords

• nature of the soul
• mullā ṣadrā
• john hick
• consciousness
• self