The Mirror of Knowledge

The Mirror of Knowledge

An Analysis of Machines Cognitive Abilities in Understanding Human Emotions Based on the Theory of Suwar Nawʿiyya in the Transcendent Philosophy

Document Type : Scientific-research

Authors
ali saghiry 1
mahdi afchangi 2
ebrahim baghshani 3
1 . PhD Student, Department of Theology, Faculty of Humanities, Go.C., Islamic Azad University, Gorgan, Iran.
2 Department of Islamic Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Gorgan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Gorgan, Iran
3 Department of Islamic Studies, Faculty of Medicine, University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran.
10.48308/jipt.2025.238412.1600
Abstract
This article examines the possibility of genuine understanding of human emotions by machines from the perspective of Sadra’s philosophy and the theory of universal forms (ṣuwar nawʿiyya). Despite significant advances in natural language processing, computer vision, and deep learning, the question remains whether machines merely process and simulate data or achieve real perception of emotions. According to the fundamentals of Transcendent Philosophy (Ḥikmat al-Mutaʿāliya), the perception of emotions goes beyond neural reflections and is intrinsically related to immediate knowledge (ʿilm ḥuẓūrī) and inner transformation of the soul (nafs). In contrast, the structure of artificial intelligence lacks an immaterial essence and cognitive faculty necessary for experiential and immediate understanding. This article analyzes the essential difference between data processing and genuine perception, addressing the inherent limitations of artificial intelligence in this domain and proposes suggestions for designing semi-perceptive systems. It concludes that authentic comprehension of emotions is a uniquely human and existential phenomenon that lies beyond the ontological horizon of machines.
Keywords
Artificial Intelligence
Emotion Processing
Transcendent Philosophy
Archetypal Forms
Substantial Motion
Cambria, E., Schuller, B., Xia, Y., & Havasi, C. (2012). “New Avenues in Opinion Mining and Sentiment Analysis”. IEEE Intelligent Systems, 28(2), 15–21. https://doi.org/10.1109/MIS.2013.30
Mohammad, S. M., & Turney, P. D. (2012). “Crowdsourcing a Word–Emotion Association Lexicon”. Computational Intelligence, 29(3), 436–465. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8640.2012.00460.x
Nasr, S. H. (1997). Ṣadr al-Dīn Shīrāzī and His Transcendent Philosophy: Background, Life and Works (Vol. 0). Tehran: Pazhūheshgāh-e ʿUlūm-e Ensānī va Moṭālaʿāt-e Farhangī. [In Persian]
Picard, R. W., & Healey, J. (1997). “Affective Wearables”. Personal Technologies, 1, 231–240. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01682026
Shīrāzī, Ṣadr al-Dīn. (1999). Al-Ḥikmat al-Muṭāʿallīya fi al-Asfār al-ʿAqli al-Arbaʿa [Transcendent Philosophy in the Four Intellectual Journeys]. M. I., & Khājavī, M. (Trans.). (Vol. 1-9). Tehran: Mowlā Publications. [In Persian]
Scherer, K. R. (2005). “What Are Emotions? And How Can They Be Measured?” Social Science Information, 44(4), 695–729. https://doi.org/10.1177/0539018405058216
Searle, J. R. (1998). Mind, Language, and Society: Philosophy in the Real World. New York: Basic Books.
Shariʿati, F., & Akbarzadeh Tootonchi, M. (2023). “An Ontological Comparison of Human and Artificial Intelligence in Islamic Philosophy with Emphasis on Mulla Sadra’s Transcendent Theosophy”. Ḥekmat-e Moʿāṣer, 13(2), 89–117. https://doi.org/10.30465/cw.2023.32287.1743 [In Persian]
Zargar, Z. (2025). “The Relation Between Emotions and Moral Capacity in Artificial Intelligence Technologies”. Pazhūhesh-hā-ye Falsafī, 19(50), 19–40. https://doi.org/10.52547/jip.2025.12345.1234 [In Persian]