Perception of Perception (Second-Order Perception) and Bodily Self-awareness in Ibn Sina’s Theory

Ibn Sina affirms a kind of bodily self-apprehension: one apprehends oneself not as bare, but as accompanied by the body. This seems to conflict with his theory of self-awareness, since in the “Floating Man” thought experiment self-awareness is primordial, non-mediated, and unconditional, independent of cognitive acts, their contents, and bodily sense-organs and faculties. The tension between primordial self-awareness and embodied self-apprehension calls for an explanation of how self and body are related in consciousness.This study argues that embodied self-apprehension can arise within Ibn Sina’s framework through “correct” sensory perception, which has two layers: first, the perception of the concrete phenomenon as it appears to the perceiver; and second, a conscious apprehension of one’s own perceiving, in which the relation of the perceptual act to the perceiver is disclosed and self-awareness as the subject of perception emerges. Since this self-awareness arises within sensory perception and bodily phenomena, it is conditioned by the bodily nature of those phenomena and by bodily organs and sensory faculties. Accordingly, the self-awareness embedded in sensory perception is an acquired, dynamic cognition, shaped by bodily sense-organs and the concrete conditions of perception. It thus presents an embodied, body-bound image of the self. In this way, the unity of the knowing soul yields a unified picture of diverse cognitive acts, in which the self remains fundamentally tied to the body, sensory organs, and material phenomena