The Position of “Soul” according to Saadia Gaon View

@ Mohsen Rahmani Nejad / PhD Student of Religions and Mysticism, the University of Tehran

                                                                                                               mohsenrahmani6470@gmail.com

Qorban Elmi / Associate Professor, the University of Tehran

Naser Gozashteh / Assistant Professor of Religions and Mysticism, Tehran University

Received: 2019/09/14 - Accepted: 2020/01/18

Abstract

The concept of "soul" is one of the important topics discussed in detail by thinkers in different religions and philosophical schools. Because of its importance, philosophers and theologians have argued about the nature and characteristics of the soul. Saadia Gaon, a medieval Jewish philosopher, is one of the Jewish scholars who has addressed this issue. His views on the issue of the soul are among the most controversial views of Saadia, which have caused controversy among scholars. After discussing the views of the Greek philosophers, he refutes their theories with rational reasoning and narrative allusions, and then proposes his theory of the soul. The present paper examines Saadia Gaun's views on the soul, his intellectual backgrounds, as well as the extent of the originality of his ideas about the subject under discussion. He seems to have a synthetic approach to the issue of the soul.

Keywords: Saadia Gaon, soul, simple body, subtle body, heavens, second air