(Life: Greek Zoe; Latin vita; French La vie, German Das Leben; Arabic al-Hayaat الحياة)
Life is a multi-faceted concept. There has not been a consensus in defining life for the simple reason that everyone sees the manifestations of life in different ways. Unlike in religion , the scientists focus on the biochemical aspect of life, while the philosophers focus on the issues of existence and reality.
The concept of life is one of the most difficult concepts to define. In fact there is no general agreement on what life is since it is a multi-faceted concept. There has not been a consensus in defining life for the simple reason that there are various perceptions and approaches to it. Unlike in religion, which transcends beyond the material world, the scientists focus on the biochemical aspect of life and the philosophers focus on issues of existence and reality.
Hence, for many, life seems to be a vague and complex thing to define. Some biologists and philosophers even reject the whole idea of there being a need for a definition, since life for them is an irreducible fact about the natural world. However, for many others it can still be defined through its aspects and manifestations. For instance, Science’s approach to life which is from material, physical and biochemical perspectives, defines life as the internal force of animals and plants. Sociology’s approach to life is through the established relationships between different elements in society. Economy looks at life from the financial side and through the movement of assets and ownership of properties between people and groups. For philosophy, life is the internal force of the beings that have it. As for religion, life is considered as some kind of spirit that will not die with the body since it is a gift from the Creator and “ is a brilliant demonstration of God’s wisdom and knowledge, a vivid reflection of His art and power. He is the Giver and Creator of Life.”
