Saeed Anvari
Abstract
In ancient medicine and natural sciences, it was accepted that living beings could arise without reproduction, directly through the constitution of the four elements and receiving Form from their sources. Based on this, they believed that some animals could arise from nonliving matter or the bodies of ...
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In ancient medicine and natural sciences, it was accepted that living beings could arise without reproduction, directly through the constitution of the four elements and receiving Form from their sources. Based on this, they believed that some animals could arise from nonliving matter or the bodies of other living beings that are not genetically similar to them. For example, mice are born from mud, scorpions from hay, and flies from rotten meat. This type of creation of living beings is called a spontaneous generation (Tavalod) which is opposite to birth (Tavalod), caused by the activity of the generative power of living beings. This point of view, which is also mentioned in Aristotle's works, was accepted by Avicenna, and after him, it was popular among Islamic philosophers. This view has had various applications in Islamic philosophy, which include: 1. The stories of Salaman va ‘Absal and Hayy Ibn Yaqzan are not fictional; 2. Explaining the origin of the three produced things (inanimate, plant, and animal) on the earth; 3. complementary view on the theory of the cosmological cycle; 4. Explaining how to preserve species; 5. An example of accidental affairs; 6. A proof of the existence of Non-material intellect; 7. Evidence that some rare religious events can be realizable; 8. Evidence of the possibility of resurrection. The view of spontaneous generation was finally rejected in the 19th century by the experiments of Louis Pasteur. In this article, by analyzing the foundations and reasons for accepting this theory, its applications in Islamic philosophy have been reviewed.
