The Entity of Man and Efficiency of Mind in Arab Culture

Abstract

The entity of man and efficiency of mind are controversial issues in Arabic culture. There is no agreement among Muslim philosophers and theologians in defining manand the mind. In their analysis, they relied on translated Greek philosophical works and Arab cultural heritage and then added their thoughts. As a result, some scholars accused Asrab culture of sinking into dualism. To clarify the entity of man and mind, we should answer the following questions:Who is man? Is the function of the mind just to achieve knowledge? What is the theory of equilibrium in Arab culture? In this paper, I will examine these questions and then investigate the rational trendfrom Mu'tazili to Ibn Rushd and compare it with another trend (Ibn Hazem and AlGhazali), adherence to the text. Researchers have interpreted the existence of suchtrends together as a reflection of the theory of equilibrium in Arab culture.