From the Islamic Golden Age to Cognitive Neuroscience:Ibn Sinā's Body-Mind-Soul Trilogy in Dialogue with Executive Control Theory
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63320/jrhs.v2.i1.19Keywords:
Ibn Sinā, executive control, body-mind-soul, wahm, Islamic philosophy, cognitive psychology, holistic well-beingAbstract
This article attempts a comparative philosophical and psychological analysis of Ibn Sinā's tripartite framework on body, mind, and soul in dialogue with the contemporary psychological theory of executive control. Ibn Sinā's trilogy is rooted in the intellectual tradition of the Islamic Golden Age. Spanning the Kitāb al-Shifā' (The Book of Healing), al-Qānūn fī al-Ṭibb (The Canon of Medicine), and Kitāb al-Najāt (The Book of Salvation), the framework offers a holistic metaphysical account of human existence that has no real equivalent in any other philosophical tradition of the pre-modern world. The psychological theory of executive control, by contrast, is grounded in empirical cognitive psychology and neuroscience. It investigates the cognitive mechanisms underlying goal-directed behavior and self-regulation. The article used primary philosophical texts. Ditto other secondary literature from both Islamic and Western traditions, to identify substantive intersections between the two frameworks. These intersections include a shared acknowledgment of the physiological basis of cognition, an emphasis on balance and harmony for optimal functioning, and the recognition of perceptual mediation in cognitive regulation. It also describes the fundamental differences, particularly in scope, epistemological grounding, and the treatment of consciousness and the soul. The analysis helps bridge longstanding gaps between classical Islamic philosophy and contemporary cognitive science. It achieves this through advancing interdisciplinary scholarship toward a more integrated understanding of human nature, well-being, and cognition.
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