Neural Mechanisms of Estimation and Their Impact on Existence-Oriented and Perfection-Oriented Perceptions in Avicennian Wisdom

In Avicenna’s philosophical system, the faculty of Estimation holds an alternative position in explaining how many cognitive perceptions are realized. Based on references Avicenna makes in his medical and philosophical works, it can be claimed that the function of all cognitive faculties is directly linked to the faculty of Estimation. At the same time, due to its special status among cognitive faculties, this faculty is constantly engaged in mutual interaction with various types of perceptions. In this regard, this article attempts to clarify the relationship between the neural characteristics of the Estimation faculty and different types of cognitive perceptions by examining its neural mechanisms. One of the most significant findings of this research is that, in Avicenna’s view, cognitive perceptions are divided into two categories: existence-oriented and perfection-oriented. Due to its special neural status in the brain, the Estimation faculty enables an animal to coordinate its actions for survival by realizing existence-oriented perceptions. Furthermore, based on its neural characteristics, the Estimation faculty can influence perfection-oriented perceptions both negatively and positively, depending on the experiences an individual acquires. Of course, to coherently reconstruct Avicenna’s perspective on the subject of this article, it was necessary to address the challenges posed by some of Avicenna’s distinguished contemporary thinkers or researchers from recent decades, which was also a focus of this study.