THE DOCTRINE OF THE SOUL OF AL-KINDI

Abstract

In this article, the authors outlines the historical role of the great Arab thinker Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Ishaq al-Kindi for the entire world civilization, not only as a versatile scientist, philosopher, but primarily as the founder of the Arabic translation movement. Al-Kindi stood at the origins of another intellectual trend - "falsafa". Falsafa is a doctrine based on the ancient tradition with its boundless faith in the cognitive abilities of the mind. But can al-Kindi be considered a true falasifa? To understand the versatility of his teaching, one must have an idea of the intellectual atmosphere in which the thinker lived and worked. The contradictions between reason and faith, philosophy and religion at that time were born by themselves. The translation movement only exacerbated these contradictions. Al-Kindi made a brilliant attempt to eliminate the differences and intellectual controversies surrounding the question: "Will the evidence of reason or the revelation of the prophets point the right way to the truth?" Despite the fact that the attempt was unsuccessful, it inspired al-Kindi to create his doctrine of the soul. The authors analyzes how the original teaching about the soul of al-Kindi absorbed a lot of ancient philosophical thought, but learned no less from the Holy Quran. The purpose of the authors was to show that the versatile genius of al-Kindi cannot be assessed within the framework of any teaching, even such an influential one in Arab-Muslim philosophy as falsafa.