Beyond Critique: Razi's Theory of the Soul in al-Mabāhith al-mashriqiyya Revisited

Abstract

Fakhr al-Din al-Razi's views on the nature of the soul have been subject to divergent interpretations due to his tahqiq-based method and the theoretical shifts traceable across his works. In this respect, al-Mabahith al-Mashriqiyya-his early philosophical treatise in which he synthesizes the traditions of kalam and philosophy-occupies a distinctive position for investigating the foundations of his theory of the soul. This article examines the theory of the soul developed in this work within the framework of Razi's epistemological structure and his account of self-consciousness, arguing that the question of the soul's nature should be approached not merely through his critical engagement with earlier positions, but in conjunction with his inquiries into the nature of knowledge itself. R & amacr;zi's definition of the reality of knowledge as a relational state attached to a form, his rejection of a material locus for such forms, his insistence that both particular and universal cognitions are directly realized by the soul, and his effort to ground the enduring continuity of one's awareness of one's own essence over time all play a decisive role in his orientation toward an immaterial conception of the soul. This study demonstrates that this orientation emerges as a necessary consequence of his reflexive analysis of self-consciousness, together with the accounts of consciousness, cognition, and knowledge developed in al-Mabahith. The analysis proceeds through text-centered readings and, where necessary, comparative examinations of Razi's other works, structured along four main axes: (i) the conditioning of relational states by forms, (ii) the imprinting and locus of forms, (iii) the immediate unity of the subject, and (iv) self-consciousness.