ON THE SOUL

...composition in which some quality of the elements dominates, and the property
The Soul

is a simple quality, not an organic body. FURTHERMORE, the soul is not the perfection of the final parts of the division. For the clarification of this point, it should be noted that Avicenna said above that some natural bodies perform their operations with organic instruments original: "instrumentis organicis"; these are what we would call "organs," like the heart or lungs., and some do not perform their operations with organic instruments. There was another division: that among natural bodies, there are some in which a power exists such that from their very essence there proceed vital original: "aiuanye, idest uitales"; the word "aiuanye" is a Latinized version of the Arabic term "hayawaniyya," referring to animal or vital functions. operations; and there are some in which this does not exist.

Therefore, the final members or the final parts of the aforementioned divisions are these: namely, first, that certain natural bodies do not perform their operations through instruments, and this was the final part of the first division. The other final member of the second division was that there are some [bodies] in which that [power] does not exist—that is, so that vital operations might proceed from their essence. Therefore, the soul is not the perfection of natural bodies which do not perform their operations by means of organic instruments, nor is it the perfection of natural bodies in which there is no power for vital operations to proceed from their essence.

Thus, the complete definition of the soul is this: we say that it is the first perfection original: "perfectio prima"; in medieval philosophy, this refers to the form or "blueprint" that makes a thing what it is and gives it the capacity to act, even when it is resting. or first act of a natural organic body. And this is the definition according to the first division—that is, according to the first member of the first division. And by what Avicenna said, "natural organic," he understood it as having life in potentiality. For natural bodies which are not organic, nor perform their operations by means of organic instruments, do not have a soul, as has been said, nor do they have life in potentiality. And if we wish, let us say that the soul is the first perfection of a natural body having life in potentiality; and this is the definition according to the first member of the
Another definition?

second division. Or it should be said that Avicenna investigated this second definition of the soul because it is common to the soul of celestial bodies, and the souls of humans, animals, and plants, as is clear to the intelligent. But the first definition is not common to the soul of celestial bodies, because although their soul is the perfection of a natural body having life in potentiality, it is not
The soul of the heaven?

the perfection of a natural organic body; for the soul of the heaven does not use an organ in its operations, as is clear, etc. And further on in the fifth chapter, it will be declared how celestial bodies are animated. And Avicenna intends that by what he said—"having life in potentiality"—it should be understood that such a natural body, of which the soul is the first perfection, is organic, because a natural body cannot have life in potentiality so that vital and animal operations proceed from it unless such a body is organic.
A specific definition?

Note that a specific definition for any soul whatsoever is assigned by the Arabic authors in this manner, namely: The vegetative soul original: "Anima uegetatiua"; the most basic level of soul, shared by plants and animals, responsible for growth and nutrition. is the first perfection...