Al-Hikmat al-muta'aliyyah fi al-asfar al-arba'ah, vol. 8

According to the history of philosophy, until before four centuries ago, there were only two well-known theories about the soul. Plato and many ancient philosophers considered it a reality separate and independent from matter. They maintained that the soul or spirit exists before the body and, after its being prepared, joins it and accompanies it as long as it has its abilities. Finally, after the death of the body, the soul goes back to another place. In this theory, the role of the soul in the body is like the presence of a captain in a ship.

Aristotle and his followers viewed the soul as a substance and material phenomenon which is the form and first perfection of the body. They also maintained that the body functioned as an object and tool in order to actualize the faculties of the soul.

The founder of the Transcendent Philosophy presented a third theory, which can be considered a combination of the two above-mentioned theories. Mulla Sadra believes that, unlike what Plato and Illuminationists maintained, man's soul is material and corporeal in its origination, oozes from the matter of the body, and creates a form for itself. Moreover, in contrast to the Peripatetics' idea, the soul is not a static and motionless substance for Mulla Sadra; rather, it is a substance that, like time, enjoys motion in its essence. In fact, time is basically the result of the soul's motion. In this volume, the writer discusses and examines the issue of the soul in seven chapters.

This book has been published with glosses by Sabziwari and research, edition, and Introduction by Ali Akbar Rishad, along with various indexes of the cited verses, hadiths, poems, etc., under the supervision of Professor Seyyed Mohammed Khamenei in 631 pages by the Sadra Islamic Philosophy Institute.