Authors
1
PhD Student of Islamic Philosophy and Theology, University of Razavi, Mshhahd, Iran
2
Assistant Professor of Islamic Philosophy and Theology, University of Ferdowsi, Mashhad, Iran
10.22080/jre.2024.27983.1215
Abstract
According to the perspective of the Peripatetic philosophers, the true nourishment for the human body is that which enters it, decomposes, and then replaces the previous forms of the body’s organs as a “substitute for what is decomposed.” Initially, this nourishment exists in potential form for the human being; however, through processes of transformation, it becomes actual nourishment. Portions of this food transform into flesh, blood, and bone. Similarly, as the food reaches each organ, it takes on the form of that organ and becomes part of it. In contrast to this theory, known as “al-Saq,” Mulla Sadra posits that physical food plays merely a preparatory (numerical) role, serving as a foundation for the soul to generate a form analogous to that of the physical food. This form, according to Sadra, constitutes the true nourishment for the human body. In essence, the intellect emanates the true form of food through the soul, and since the soul already possesses this form at the level of its essence, it manifests it for the body at the level of multiplicity and action. This article adopts a descriptive-analytical method and a philosophical approach to examine and reinterpret the principles and implications of bodily nourishment and its connection with the soul. The study concludes that the essence of nourishment and its active status belong to the soul rather than the physical matter of food and drink, which are only incidentally and potentially consumed. Instead, food and drink serve as mere material and preparatory factors. This explains why perfect souls can independently generate the forms of nourishment and, through this ability, sustain their bodies. Such souls are, in fact, among the manifestations of God Almighty’s name, “al-Raziq” (The Sustainer).
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