sayyed mohammad hosain naghibi; addollah nasri
Volume 19, Issue 3 , January 0, , Pages 17-38
Abstract
There are two steps in the process of sensory perception: the sensory organ’s sense-impression and the soul’s perception. The first step is materialistic and the second one abstract. According to the union of the body and soul, the soul apprehends the sensory organs’ sense impressions, ...
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There are two steps in the process of sensory perception: the sensory organ’s sense-impression and the soul’s perception. The first step is materialistic and the second one abstract. According to the union of the body and soul, the soul apprehends the sensory organs’ sense impressions, and the soul’s apprehension is considered knowledge by presence. Some commentators of transcendent theosophy, like Allameh Tabatabai and Shahid Motahhari, support this viewpoint. From their point of view, the ability to explain the cause of sensory errors is an epistemological inseparable part of this theory. It is also an epistemic foundation upon which indirect realism theory can be defended in relation to the subject matter of sensory perception, as advocated by great scholars of Islamic theosophy. The acceptance of the knowledge by presence as belonging to the sensory organs’ sense perceptions is compatible with the concept of acquired knowledge. Ibn Sina and Mulla Sadra believe in acquired knowledge, while Suhrawardi and Sabzevari believe in knowledge by presence. According to the latter view, the soul finds its self outside, so the mismatch of perception with the outside is not conceivable, while in the encounter of sense organs with the outside, in some cases a form which is incompatible with reality presents itself to the soul. Thus one cannot imagine the presence of sensory perception.
