نوع مقاله : مقاله پژوهشی
نویسندگان
1 . دانشپژوه سطح چهار فلسفه اسلامی، مدرسه علمیه عالی نواب، حوزه علمیه خراسان، مشهد، ایران.
2 استادیار گروه فلسفه و حکمت اسلامی، دانشکده الهیات و معارف اسلامی، دانشگاه فردوسی مشهد، مشهد، ایران
3 پژوهشگر بنیاد پژوهشهای اسلامی، مشهد، ایران
چکیده
کلیدواژهها
عنوان مقاله [English]
نویسندگان [English]
Extended Abstract
Introduction and Objectives: The belief in reincarnation, as one of the most ancient concepts concerning posthumous fate, has perpetually captivated the human mind throughout history and has been reproduced in the modern era within emerging spiritual schools. This theory, which stands in fundamental opposition to the doctrine of the “Hereafter” (Ma’ad) in Abrahamic religions, has consistently been a source of theological and philosophical challenges. Among various perspectives, the approach of Carl Gustav Jung holds a distinctive position for offering a psychological interpretation devoid of the concept of a “soul.” By substituting the concept of “consciousness transfer” for “soul transfer,” Jung presents a schema of survival that appears more acceptable to the secular and naturalistic intellectual framework of the modern age.
This research is formed with the aim of fundamentally analyzing and critiquing this approach. The central research questions are as follows: 1. How is the notion of reincarnation explained within the current of Jungian analytical psychology? 2. How is Jung’s approach to reincarnation evaluated based on the principles of Hikmat al-Muta’aliyah (Transcendent Philosophy)? The innovation of this article lies in its direct and systematic engagement with critiquing Jung’s theory of reincarnation from the perspective of one of the most profound schools of Islamic philosophy.
Research Method: This fundamental research employs a “comparative-analytical method.” Data collection was conducted through library research, involving the direct study of Jung’s works, prominent commentators on his thought, as well as primary and secondary texts related to Mulla Sadra’s Transcendent Philosophy. The research process was organized in two main, interconnected stages: In the “descriptive-analytical stage,” the theoretical foundations of Jungian analytical psychology that play an essential role in shaping his theory of reincarnation were meticulously extracted and elucidated. These key foundations include the “tripartite structure of the psyche (conscious, personal unconscious, and collective unconscious),” “theory of archetypes,” “process of individuation,” “functions of imagination and dreams,” “primacy of the psyche and naturalistic approach,” and finally, the “psychological interpretation of the phenomenon of religion.” Subsequently, Jung’s specific formulation of reincarnation, termed “Psychology of Rebirth,” and its five types (including metempsychosis, reincarnation in the specific sense, resurrection, direct rebirth, and indirect rebirth) are elaborated in detail. In the “comparative-critical stage,” each of these concepts, along with the rebirth theory itself, is subjected to the critique of Transcendent Philosophy. In this section, by relying on fundamental principles such as “substantial motion” (al-harakat al-jawhariyyah), “the soul’s being corporeal in origin and spiritual in subsistence” (jismaniyyat al-huduth wa ruhaniyyat al-baqa’), “the immateriality of the imaginative faculty and the distinction of the imaginal world” (tajarrud al-khayal wa ‘alam al-mithal), and the “theory of the incarnation of deeds” (tajassum al-a’mal), the shortcomings and strengths of Jung’s approach are scrutinized.
Findings and Discussion: The investigations of this research demonstrate that Jung’s explanation of reincarnation is rooted in the “collective unconscious” and “archetypes” and is entirely confined within a psychological and naturalistic framework. From his perspective, the belief in rebirth is a purely “psychic” phenomenon, a reflection of ancestral experiences that have sedimented as primordial images in the depths of the human psyche and are transmitted to subsequent generations. The current life is an intermediary link for transmitting these unconscious contents, and “individuation” is considered the psychological process of being reborn in this very life. By denying any metaphysical explanation, Jung regards even authentic religious concepts (such as the story of Moses and Khidr in the Quran) merely as symbols of intra-psychic processes. In contrast, critiquing this approach in the light of Transcendent Philosophy led to several key findings:
Jung transfers the Platonic world of Ideas from an ontological realm into the depths of the human psyche (the collective unconscious) and does not acknowledge an independent ontological basis for it. In contrast, Mulla Sadra considers the Ideas as the cause and true reality of things and believes reaching them requires abstraction from the sensory world. It is noteworthy that the hereditary transmission of learned concepts (archetypes) is not accepted by mainstream theories in molecular genetics either.
Jung’s process of individuation studies man within a completely naturalistic and purely psychological mold. In contrast, Transcendent Philosophy speaks of a real journey through the realms of existence (the Four Journeys, al-Asfar al-Arba’ah) and delineates the path of human transcendence through the “greater jihad” and perfecting the theoretical and practical faculties.
All that Jung depicts from the revelations of the unconscious (such as in The Red Book), from Sadra’s viewpoint, pertains only to matters connected to the “connected imagination” (al-khayal al-muttasil), Due to his failure to comprehend the immateriality of the imagination and his lack of awareness of the macrocosmic levels of existence, Jung explains phenomena such as veridical dreams or near-death experiences within a psychological and material space, lacking the necessary ontological framework to account for the role of the “intermediate world” (the disconnected imaginal world, ‘alam al-mithal al-munfasil).
Jung’s approach forms a materialistic system of thought that, even when confronting the Holy Quran (such as interpreting the journey of Moses and Khidr as individuation and the discovery of the unconscious), offers a materialistic and psychological interpretation. Furthermore, Jung’s assumption of the equal value and utility of all religions, despite their contradictory propositions, leads, from Sadra’s perspective, to contradiction and sophistry.
Results and Suggestion: The outcome of this research is the confrontation of two distinct worldviews: Jung’s “psyche-centric” and “naturalistic” worldview versus the “ontological” and “hierarchical” worldview of Transcendent Philosophy. Due to his unfamiliarity with Islamic philosophical schools such as Illuminationism (Ishraq) and Transcendent Philosophy, and his commitment to a reductionist approach, Jung analyzes all transcendent phenomena, including religion and eschatological fate, within the limited framework of the human psyche. This has resulted in a thoroughly subjective, relativist interpretation lacking solid metaphysical foundations for a phenomenon like reincarnation. In contrast, Transcendent Philosophy, by providing profound rational and ontological principles such as substantial motion and the gradual immateriality of the soul, both rationally refutes “metempsychosis” (tanasukh malakuti) and offers a more transcendent and comprehensive model of human evolution and survival under the title of “bodily resurrection” (ma’ad jismani). Ultimately, it can be concluded that Jung’s approach to reincarnation, despite its descriptive richness at the psychological level, faces fundamental challenges when confronted with the coherent and rational system of Transcendent Philosophy. The absence of a clear depiction of the soul-body relationship and the lack of a sound ontological system are the primary reasons for the formation of Jung’s psychological mental system. In none of his analyses can Jung portray a reality beyond human body and mind. Ultimately, he locates the genesis of man in the realm of mental introspections and his survival in the realm of the archetypes of the unconscious.
This research reveals the capacity of Transcendent Philosophy for engaging with modern humanities, particularly psychology. As a suggestion, the “re-reading” and “reformulation” of the key concepts of this philosophy (such as the levels of the soul, the imaginative faculty, immateriality, and the incarnation of deeds) within a framework comprehensible to contemporary psychological paradigms can provide a foundation for future interdisciplinary research. This will both enrich psychology through profound philosophical insights and expose the teachings of Islamic philosophy to broader applied contexts and practical testing.
کلیدواژهها [English]
)