Concept of Spiritual Health in Descartes' and Tabatabaei's Perspectives

Abstract

A comparative discussion on "Spiritual Health", as one of the most imperative health fundamentals was initiated. This concept has recently been added to the previous health constituents including physical, psychological and social aspects by the World Health Organization. The words "spiritual" and "health" for many people are two separate and independent issues, while they are inextricably linked. Spirituality in health is not material in nature but belongs to the realm of ideas that have arisen in the minds of human beings, particularly ennobling ideas. Considering the important role which spiritual health plays in our overall sense of happiness and fulfillment as well as the direct connection between spiritual wellness and physical health, the perspectives adopted  by Rene Descartes, as the "father of  philosophy and modern Humanism" and Allameh Tabatabaee, as the "representative of Islamic philosophy" were compared in the present study.

Due to his humanistic perspective, Descartes holds that spiritual health is of an abstract nature and is solely connectedwith human's conscience and intellectual insight indication of a naturalistic (materialistic) interpretation of humans,but it is not concerned with humans' desires, behavior and ultra-humanistic realm. Tabatabaee believes that spiritual health depends on humans'ultra-naturalistic realm and meanin-?seeking nature, i.e. the acceptance of absolute reality principle (God) as the meaning of  life that aside from correcting  humans' insight and outlook assigns direction to his behavior and attitude