Journal of Philosophical Investigations

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Distinguished Professor in Sharif University of Technology, Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences (IPM) Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Since old times the two dimensionalities of human beings, i.e., their having a material body and an immaterial soul (spirit), has been a controversial problem. In the Abrahamic religions, the human soul is considered to be immaterial and in interaction with the body. Furthermore, it is considered to be a special effusion of God to each individual human being. During the modern times, with the dominance of empiricism, the prevalent view considers human soul a byproduct of matter. In fact, from the naturalistic viewpoint of modern science, there is no place for mind or consciousness as a novel and immaterial subject, but there are some important ideas about this subject, and some eminent scientists of our time believe that the human soul is immaterial and is never explainable by science. Among the latter group, there are some celebrated scientists who believe that human soul is God’s special effusion to human beings. In this article, we mention and analyze some of these important ideas.

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