The nature of human soul in al-Farabi's philosophy and its influence on medieval philosophy

The concept of soul, one of the most controversial and uncompromising subjects of the history of thought, which we approach in our study aims to examine the thoughts and opinions of Abu Nasr Muhammad al-Farabi who is a prominent name in Islamic Philosophy, on this concept. Al-Farabi stands between Ancient Greek Philosophy and European Medieval Philosophy as a messenger, but more importantly a commentator and interpreter of same tradition. In this study, we try to examine the soul concept in our philosopher, how his understanding is influenced by Ancient Greek Culture, and how it influenced Medieval Philosophy. In the first and second part of our study, we addressed al-Farabi's views and reviews on soul on the basis of the nature and the powers of it, the relationship with body and Active Intellect, and finally eschatological fate of it. We also tried to briefly touch upon the views of some prominent ancient Greek Philosophers such as Aristotle, Plato and Plotinus who influenced al-Farabi. Thus, we have seen the resources al-Farabi benefitted from while he forms his philosophy and how he adapted them into the culture and system of thought which he belongs. In the last part of our work, we tried to convey how Medieval Philosophers were influenced in their philosophy which had begun with the translations from Arabic into Latin by Muslim Philosophers, particularly by al-Farabi, in terms of soul concept.