Anthropomorphic Conceptual Metaphors of the Soul in Ibn Sinā's Works

Document Type : Scientific-research

Authors

1 PhD student of Islamic Philosophy and Theology, Sabzevar Branch, Islamic Azad University, Sabzevar, Iran.

2 Associate Professor of Islamic Philosophy and Wisdom, Hakim Sabzevari University, Sabzevar, Iran (Corresponding Author)

3 Department of Islamic Philosophy and Wisdom, Hakim Sabzevari University, Sabzevar, Iran.

Abstract

The soul is an abstract concept that requires the use of metaphor for its comprehension. The human mind is inherently incapable of understanding intellectual concepts without the aid of concrete domains. Cognitive metaphor theory (conceptual metaphor theory) demonstrates how humans utilize metaphors to grasp intangible phenomena, wherein the target conceptual domain becomes understandable through mappings from a source domain. This study adopts a cognitive approach to explore the conceptualization of the soul in Ibn Sinā’s works through anthropomorphic metaphors, framed under the overarching metaphor "The Soul is a Human" and its subsidiary metaphors. The findings reveal that the soul is made comprehensible through metaphors drawn from domains such as human life dimensions, including birth, management, ownership, worship, physical activity, social interaction, legal frameworks, and negative human traits. These metaphors illustrate the relationship between the soul and the body as well as its connection to higher principles, including the Active Intellect.

Keywords

References

Ibn Fāris, Ahmad. (1983). Maqāyis al-Lughah. Qom: Madrasa ‘Ulūm Islami.
Ibn Manzūr, Muhammad. (1993). Lisan al-‘Arab. Beirut: Dar al-Bayrut.
Ibn Sinā, Husayn ibn ‘Abdullāh. (n.d.). Risālah fi al-Adwiyah al-Qalbiyyah. Aleppo.
Ibn Sinā, Husayn ibn ‘Abdullāh. (1937). Ta‘bir al-Ru’yā. Tehran: Dānesh Publications.
Ibn Sinā, Husayn ibn ‘Abdullāh. (1940). Tadbir al-Manzil, Translated by Muhammad Najafi Zanjāni. Tehran: Ketāb Publications. (In Persian)
Ibn Sinā, Husayn ibn ‘Abdullāh. (1973). Mi‘rāj Nāmah. Rasht: ‘Urwat al-Wuthqā Publications. (In Persian)
Ibn Sinā, Husayn ibn ‘Abdullāh. (1979). Rasā’il Ibn Sinā. Qom: Bidār Publications.
Ibn Sinā, Husayn ibn ‘Abdullāh. (1983). Al-Shifā – Ilahiyyāt. Qom: Mar‘ashi Najafi Publications.
Ibn Sinā, Husayn ibn ‘Abdullāh. (1983a). Al-Ta‘liqāt. Qom: Maktabat al-‘Alam al-Islāmi.
Ibn Sinā, Husayn ibn ‘Abdullāh. (1983b). Al-Shifā – Tabi‘iyyāt. Qom: Mar‘ashi Najafi Publications.
Ibn Sinā, Husayn ibn ‘Abdullāh. (1984). Mabda’ wa Ma‘ād. Tehran: Institute for Islamic Studies.
Ibn Sinā, Husayn ibn ‘Abdullāh. (1985). Tarjuma-yi Risālah Aḍhuwiyyah. Tehran: Ettelaʿāt Publications. (In Persian)
Ibn Sinā, Husayn ibn ‘Abdullāh. (1991). Mubāhathāt. Qom: Bidār Publications.
Ibn Sinā, Husayn ibn ‘Abdullāh. (1996). Al-ʾIshārat wa al-Tanbihāt. Qom: Al-Balāghah Publications.
Ibn Sinā, Husayn ibn ‘Abdullāh. (2000). Najāt. Tehran: University of Tehran Press.
Ibn Sinā, Husayn ibn ‘Abdullāh. (2003). Al-Aḍhuwiyyah fi al-Ma‘ād. Tehran: Shams Tabrizi Publications.
Ibn Sinā, Husayn ibn ‘Abdullāh. (2009). Majmū‘ah Rasā’il Ibn Sinā. Qom: Ayat Sharq Publications.
Bustāni, Fu’ād. (1997). Farhang Abjadi: Alifba-yi ‘Arabi-Farsi. Islami. (In Persian)
Khādemzādeh, Vahid. (2017). “The Metaphor of Existence as Fluid in Mullā Sadrā’s Philosophy.” Philosophy and Islamic Kalam, 50(2): 187–205. DOI: 10.22059/jitp.2017.222100.522913. (In Persian)
Khādemzādeh, Vahid. (2020). “A Statistical Analysis of Conceptual Metaphors of Causality in the Metaphysics Section of Ibn Sinā’s Al-Shifā.” Linguistic Research, 1(61): 315–397. DOI: 10.29252/LRR.12.1.12. (In Persian)
Farāahidi, Khalil. (1988). Kitāb al-‘Ayn. Qom: Dar al-Hijrah Institute.
Lakoff, G. & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors We Lived by. Chicago & London: The University of Chicago Press.
Mu‘meni, Seyyed Ali, Imānpour, Mansūr, & Akbari, Rezā. (2020). “Conceptual Metaphor and the Problem of the Addition of Existence to Essence in Islamic Philosophy.” Hikmat-e Sinavi, 24(63): 53–69. DOI: 10.30497/AP.2020.238754.1471. (In Persian)
Mobaraki, Fatemeh, Alavi, Seyed Mohammad Kazem, & Ershadinia, Mohammad Reza. (2023). “The Conceptual Metaphor of Perception as Movement in Ibn Sinā’s Epistemology.” Cognition, 16(2): 200–216. DOI: 10.48308/KJ.2024.233949.1209. (In Persian)
Qurashī Banāyi, ‘Ali Akbar. (1928). Qamūs al-Qur’ān. Tehran: Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyyah. (In Persian)
Sajjādi, Ja‘far. (1994). Farhang-i Ma‘ārif-i Islami. Tehran: Kūmesh Publications. (In Persian)
Zargūshi, Zeynab. (2021). “The Application of Metaphor in Suhrawardi’s Epistemology.” Philosophy and Islamic Kalam, 54(1): 61–81. DOI: 10.22059/jitp.2021.317819.523257. (In Persian)
The Mirror of Knowledge
Volume 24, Issue 4 - Serial Number 81
December 2024
Pages 77-100

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics