If the heavens vanished would time continue to pass? If existence were distinct from essence, would that mean that existence itself must exist?
Aristotelian philosophy and scientific method became widespread in the Islamic Golden Age. And while many intellectuals delved into philosophical thought in Baghdad, Damascus, and Persia, a notable philosopher and physician, Ibn Sina – called Avicenna in the West – was inspired not only by Aristotle but also by Plato, especially his idea of dualism. Avicenna continued to develop this idea of dualism arguing that mind and body: senses and reason: are distinct entities. He illustrated this belief with the image of a flying man – blindfolded and floating in the air, the man was symbolized as deprived of all sense and despite not perceiving anything through his senses, the man is still aware that he has a ‘soul’ but no physical feeling. He further asserted a similar idea to Plato’s that the soul would continue to exist if the physical body perishes.
