Title:THE SOUL-BODY PROBLEM: THE INCONSISTENT TETRAD ‎AND ITS RESOLUTION ‎IN SADR AL-DIN SHIRAZI’S ‎PERSPECTIVE (In Azerbaijani)
Volume:6
Issue:1
Abstract:

The “inconsistent tetrad” refers to the four propositions ‎commonly used in the philosophy of mind to address the issue of the mind-‎body relation. As the name suggests, although each of these propositions may ‎individually be true, only three of them can be true at the same time, while one ‎must always be false. For instance: 1) The soul is a non-material substance; 2) ‎The body is a material substance; 3) The soul and body are in relation to each ‎other; 4) The relationship between material and non-material entities is ‎impossible. Throughout the history of philosophy, different philosophers have ‎provided various solutions to this problem. Dualists, who believe in the non-‎material nature of the soul, reject the fourth proposition, which denies the ‎possibility of the relationship between material and non-material entities. In ‎contrast, proponents of physicalist theories attempt to resolve the issue by ‎materializing the soul.‎

This paper attempts to analyze the inconsistent tetrad from the ‎perspective of the 17th-century Safavid philosopher Sadr al-Din Shirazi. After ‎explaining the nature of the inconsistent tetrad, the paper discusses Shirazi’s ‎concept of the soul. It then examines which propositions, from the perspective ‎of his theory of the soul, are likely to be true and which are likely to be false. ‎The conclusion emphasizes that, according to Shirazi’s theory of the soul, ‎which is “corporeal in its origination, but spiritual in subsistence,” the soul and ‎body represent the only ontological unity that evolves from matter to spirit. ‎Unlike the dualist or physicalist viewpoints, the Shirazi perspective offers not ‎a singular solution, but multiple possible solutions to this problem.‎

Full Name:Ibrahim Baghirov
Affilation: Institute of Oriental Studies‎ named after academician Ziya Bunyadov of ANAS
Country: Azerbaijan
DOI: https://doi.org/10.33864/2790-0037.2025.v6.i1.126-136
Email: i.bagirov@oriental.science.az
Orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2976-2119
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