A Reflection on the Liminal Position of Man Based on the Imaginative Faculty in Al-Farabi and Kant

Document Type : Scholarly Article

Authors

1 Associate Professor of the Department of Philosophy, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran.

2 PhD student of Western Philosophy, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran.

Abstract

In Islamic tradition, man is defined as an intermediary and liminal being, situated between the animal and the angel, with the constant potential for ascent or descent to either of these ontological spheres. This paper endeavors to provide a philosophical interpretation of this intermediary and liminal position of man based on the concept of the imaginative faculty in the philosophies of Al-Farabi and Kant. The central question of this essay is to examine how, in the works of these two philosophers, epistemology serves as a platform for offering an ontological interpretation of man's liminal position. This paper represents an initial exploration of this topic. Given the prominence of the imaginative faculty in Kant's philosophy, particularly in his discussion of transcendental deduction, this paper will begin by tracing the trajectory of transcendental deduction, highlighting the role of the imaginative faculty and its two levels of productive and reproductive imagination. It will then proceed to examine these two levels of imagination (productive and reproductive) in Al-Farabi's thought, without resorting to simplistic comparisons or equating the two philosophers' perspectives. Employing an analytical approach, the paper will seek to establish an anthropological foundation for the imaginative faculty in the philosophies of both thinkers. The intermediary role of imagination in the realization of knowledge in the works of these two philosophers provides the basis for such an endeavor.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

Aristotle (1349), about the soul, translation, annotations and margins of Ali Murad Davoudi, Tehran, Tehran University Press.
Badawi, Abdurrahman (2018), on the history of atheism in Islam, translated by Moin Kazmifar, Tehran, contemporary view.
Barbour, Ian (2012) Religion and Science, translated by Pirouz Fatourchi, Tehran, Islamic Culture and Thought Research Organization.
Corbin, Henry (1354), Land of the Kingdom: The Human Body on the Day of Resurrection from Mazdai Iran to Shiite Iran, translated by Seyyed Ziauddin Deshiri, Tehran, Iranian Center for the Study of Cultures
Corbin, Henry(1384) , creative imagination in Ibn Arabi's mysticism, translated by Anshallah Rahmati, Tehran, Jami Publications
Descartes, Rene (2008). Meditations on first philosophy, translated by Michael Moriarty. Oxford University Press.
Farabi (1361), Thoughts of the people of Madinah Fazhaleh, translated by Seyyed Jafar Sajjadi, Tehran, Tahori Library Publications
Farabi(1382). Fosul Muntazeh, translated by Hassan Malekshahi, Tehran, Soroush.
Guyer, Paul (2006). Kant. Routledge, London and New York.
Heidegger, Martin (1997). Kant and the problem of metaphysics, translated by Richard Taft. Indiana University Press.
Hikmat, Nasrullah (1389), Farabi, the strange philosopher, Tehran, Alam publication.
Javadi Amoli (1385), interpretation of human to human, Qom, Esra Publishing Center.
Kant, Immanuel (2018), Criticism of Pure Reason, translated by Behrouz Nazari, Tehran, Phoenix.
Koerner, Eshfan (2010) Kant's Philosophy, translated by Ezzatullah Foladvand, Tehran, Kharazmi Publishing Company
Maftoni, Nadia (2013), Farabi and the philosophy of religious art, Tehran, Soroush.
Makkreel, Rudolf A (1990). Imagination and Interpretation in Kant: The Hermeneutical Import of Critique of Judgment. the University of Chicago press.
Mulla Sadra (1425), al-Hikma al-Mu'taaliyyah fi al-Asfar al-Aqliyyah al-Arabah, Volume 8, Qom, Talia Noor.
Walsh. W. H. (1997). Kant’s Criticism of Metaphysics. Edinburgh University Press,
Weatherston, Martin (2002). Heidegger’s Interpretation of Kant: Categories, Imagination and Temporality. Palgrave Macmillan.
Avecinnian Philosophy Journal
Volume 27, Issue 70 - Serial Number 70
November 2023
Pages 83-101

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics