- T = Timing: Could the topic discussed in class find relevance among today’s contemporary social, political, economic, or religious affairs?
Avicenna was seen as a systemiser of philosophy. Nowadays, academic research in the conteomporary sciences are also using systematic ways of producing knowledge. He questioned and criticised Aristotle’s way of thinking, which is the fundament of the Western social and political superstructure.
- O = Opinion: Formulate your own opinion on the topic and related discussions.
I do agree more with the Aristotelian perception of the soul. The seperation of the soul in different incremental stages sounds logical and appealing. First, there is the vegetative part which is consumed with self-nutrition, growth and reproduction. Next, there is the animal part which adds perception and voluntary motion. And finally, there is the human part that adds rational cognition and action. The last stage is what makes us human. These incremental stages of the soul lack in Avicenna’s explanation of the souls.
- D = Debate: Can you offer an oppositional view challenging the topic and main arguments discussed in class?
Avicenna argues that your soul is the spatiotemporality as individuation. It means that your body occupies space and it is embedded in a certain time period. This is what makes you different from other souls. Souls are constitued in different contexts and environments, as a result they develop different identities. But all the souls have the same origin, so the deviation is a result of spatiotemporality. With this assumption he undermines the fact that humans have genetic preconditions that result to differences in for example intelligence and social skills.
- A = Argument: Can you summarise the thematic argument in a few short sentences?
The human essence is undivided, one and simple. The human essence is also immaterial. It is connected to the body because there is a co-dependent relationship between the body and the soul. The body needs the soul to be tames, it needs rationality to be preserved and healthy. The soul needs the body for growing and acquiring knowledge.
- Y = Yoda: How would Yoda epitomise the main topic discussed in class in his classically-famous aphorism?
- ”Rise and fall”
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