Ancient Greek Influences on Al-Kindī's Understanding of the Soul
Authors: Çamlı Sercan 
Published: December 2024

In this study, we have tried to present Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb b. Isḥāq b. al-Sabbāḥ al-Kindī's understanding of the soul (nafs) based on his treatises in which he makes explanations about the soul, and then we have tried to analyze the similarities and differences between al-Kindī's views and the Ancient Greek philosophers. Al-Kindī's explanations about the soul are basically divided into three parts. These are the definition of the soul, the structure of the soul, and the state of the soul after death. These parts also played a role in determining the titles of our study. The reason for analyzing al-Kindī in comparison with the Ancient Greek philosophers is that al-Kindī frequently refers to various Ancient Greek philosophers and quotes their views. Therefore, the question arises as to how much al-Kindī was influenced by the Ancient Greek philosophers in his understanding of the soul.
Al-Kindī wrote two works on the soul, Risāla fī al-nafs (Discourse on the Soul) and Kalāmun fī al-nafs muhtasarun wajīz (A Concise and Brief Statement About the Soul). He also wrote a work titled Risāla fī Hudūd al-Ashyā wa Rusūmihā (Treatise on Definitions) in which he defined and explained various philosophical concepts, including the concept of the soul. In al-Kindī's al-Khudūd, he provides a definition of the soul and then cites three known definitions of the soul. Al-Kindī does not refer to Aristotle in his definition here, but he presents his definition of the soul -as the first perfection of the organic natural body with potential life in it- in a similar way. In Risāla fi al-Nafs, unlike al-Hudūd, he shares his thoughts by referring to the Ancient Greek philosophers Pythagoras, Plato, and Aristotle. The reason for al-Kindī's referring to these philosophers by explicitly mentioning their names can be understood from the purpose of writing the work, which he states at the beginning of the treatise. Al-Kindī says that three things are asked of him here. These are summarizing the views on the soul, summarizing Aristotle's De Anima (On the Soul), and presenting the views of other philosophers. In our study, we analyzed al-Kindī's references to the Ancient Greek philosophers by comparing them with the works of Plato and Aristotle, and we found that al-Kindī was predominantly influenced by Plato. In the Risāla fi al-Nafs, al-Kindī refers to Plato predominantly by mentioning his name, whereas Aristotle's name is mentioned only in one place, and it is possible that this reference belongs to Plato rather than Aristotle. In the very short treatise Kalāmun fīn-nafs, Aristotle is mentioned once, but the reference to Aristotle is reconciled with Plato by al-Kindī. In other words, this attribution has aspects related to Plato. Therefore, while we expected al-Kindī to convey the views of many philosophers on the soul, we found that he actually conveyed Plato's views and did not summarize Aristotle's De Anima. However, on the status of the soul after death, or in other words, on the immortality of the soul, al-Kindī seems to have been influenced by the Neo-Platonists rather than Plato.
Although al-Kindī's aim was to summarize the views of previous philosophers, he conveyed them in a way that corresponded his own philosophy. For example, Pythagoras, Plato, and the Neo-Platonists all emphasize the transmigration of the soul in their understanding of the soul, but al-Kindī does not provide any information about the transmigration of the soul. On the other hand, he shared the subject of the soul's ascension and purification, which these philosophers discussed in connection with the transmigration of the soul. The reason we mention this is that especially in Plato and the Neo-Platonists, these topics are so intertwined that they cannot be separated from each other. In other words, al-Kindī did not try to convey each topic exactly. Therefore, he shared his views in accordance with his own philosophy. In this way, al-Kindī also reveals his own understanding of the soul. However, when we look at the sum of the treatises in general, it should be noted that major differences such as the transmigration of the soul are not in the majority, that is, there are mostly minor differences. We see the parts where al-Kindī differs as al-Kindī's own interpretation. However, the points where al-Kindī shows similarities are also important because we think that al-Kindī is a philosopher who contributed to later Islamic thought in terms of both similarities and differences. Because even what he conveyed in a similar way was accepted and continued by later philosophers. Therefore, analyzing al-Kindī's thoughts will allow us to see how influential Ancient Greek thought was at the starting point of Islamic philosophical literature.