On Transmigration
The Pythagoreans believed that the human soul نفس was a captive, imprisoned within the material body جسم as a result of its sin; and if a particular human soul was unable to attain perfection کمال in terms of purification تذکیه نفس from sin in a single life time, so it would have to suffer through a prolonged captivity in the form of transmigration or metapsychosis تناسخ, until the said purification or perfection is achieved.
Metapsychosis involves the transference انتقال of the soul on death to a body other than the one it previously occupied or was associated with; this subsequent body may either be a plant نبات, an animal حیوان, or another human being انسان; but Muslim Philosophers such as Avicenna and Mullah Sadra consider transmigration of the soul to be impossible ممتنع, and Mullah Sadra in particular presents a number of reasons for considering it as such.
The purpose غرض of the soul's attachment with the physical body is to seek existential perfection through the gradual تدریجی actualization فعلیه of its latent potentialities قوه, by means of substantive-motion حرکت الجوهریه; initially by reason of its ontological weakness ضعف وجود the soul is completely dependent محتاج on the body for the performance of its acts افعال; acts that are aimed at reaching some good خیر. Once the soul has completely actualized all its potential, thereby becoming independent مستقل of the body; it is at this stage that it bids farewell to its mortal coil to soar upwards towards the heavens; having attained complete actualization there is no longer any reason for the soul to reassociate itself with a physical body, since the purpose behind the attachment in the first place has already been fulfilled.
A soul that has reached complete actuality in order to reassociate itself with another material body would need to relinquish a degree of its actuality and gain a level of potentiality so as to acquire a certain degree of suitability مناسبه with the new body; this is because matter is a substance جوهر that bears potential and a completely actualized soul has no potential and is therefore not suitable for reassociation with the new body; now the acquisition of a degree of potentiality by an actualized soul requires its movement from actuality towards potentiality; but there can be no movement where there is no matter; therefore transmigration remains impossible.
Moreover, it is a principle اصول in Ontology that Existence وجود always moves from imperfection towards perfection and not the other way around; now since actuality is a perfection and potentiality an imperfection نقص therefore a soul that has attained complete actuality will never move towards potentiality.
Now the Pythagoreans and other proponents of transmigration اهل تناسخ may argue concerning the souls that fail to become completely actual due to an accidental death حادثاتی موت, that due to their possession of a degree of potentiality or unactualized potential such souls by reason of being suitable to matter may reassociate themselves with another body; Mullah Sadra responds to them by stating that the new material body would already possess a soul of its own, and there cannot be two souls in a single body; this is because the soul is the form صور of the body, and it is impossible for matter to bear multiple forms in the same aspect.
Metapsychosis involves the transference انتقال of the soul on death to a body other than the one it previously occupied or was associated with; this subsequent body may either be a plant نبات, an animal حیوان, or another human being انسان; but Muslim Philosophers such as Avicenna and Mullah Sadra consider transmigration of the soul to be impossible ممتنع, and Mullah Sadra in particular presents a number of reasons for considering it as such.
The purpose غرض of the soul's attachment with the physical body is to seek existential perfection through the gradual تدریجی actualization فعلیه of its latent potentialities قوه, by means of substantive-motion حرکت الجوهریه; initially by reason of its ontological weakness ضعف وجود the soul is completely dependent محتاج on the body for the performance of its acts افعال; acts that are aimed at reaching some good خیر. Once the soul has completely actualized all its potential, thereby becoming independent مستقل of the body; it is at this stage that it bids farewell to its mortal coil to soar upwards towards the heavens; having attained complete actualization there is no longer any reason for the soul to reassociate itself with a physical body, since the purpose behind the attachment in the first place has already been fulfilled.
A soul that has reached complete actuality in order to reassociate itself with another material body would need to relinquish a degree of its actuality and gain a level of potentiality so as to acquire a certain degree of suitability مناسبه with the new body; this is because matter is a substance جوهر that bears potential and a completely actualized soul has no potential and is therefore not suitable for reassociation with the new body; now the acquisition of a degree of potentiality by an actualized soul requires its movement from actuality towards potentiality; but there can be no movement where there is no matter; therefore transmigration remains impossible.
Moreover, it is a principle اصول in Ontology that Existence وجود always moves from imperfection towards perfection and not the other way around; now since actuality is a perfection and potentiality an imperfection نقص therefore a soul that has attained complete actuality will never move towards potentiality.
Now the Pythagoreans and other proponents of transmigration اهل تناسخ may argue concerning the souls that fail to become completely actual due to an accidental death حادثاتی موت, that due to their possession of a degree of potentiality or unactualized potential such souls by reason of being suitable to matter may reassociate themselves with another body; Mullah Sadra responds to them by stating that the new material body would already possess a soul of its own, and there cannot be two souls in a single body; this is because the soul is the form صور of the body, and it is impossible for matter to bear multiple forms in the same aspect.
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