Beauty and imaginary perception from Ibn Sina's point of view

Master's thesis in the field of philosophy of art

Abstract

Beauty and its related issues have always been important and major issues in the words of thinkers, with the aim that through a careful examination of its meaning, they can achieve a standard for beauty and in order to achieve that, other issues aligned with the discussion of beauty do It is noteworthy that in the words of a philosopher, there is an engineered organization according to which the issues are defined and explained. What is examined in this treatise are the opinions of a Muslim philosopher who is both the comprehensive opinion of the philosophers before him and the issue of faith clearly shows itself in his opinions. In Ibn Sina's view, beauty is not an end in itself, and it is in the interaction and encounter with God that it becomes valuable, it is His true beauty, and God is the source of all beauty. Therefore, every item that is moving towards God, the more it is similar to the essence of oneness, the more beautiful it looks.

Key words

Beauty, imagination, imagination, similes, love, poetry, breath, perception

Man is a perfectionist creature by nature, and his existence seeks perfection in all fields, therefore, he seeks a definition and a goal that explains the goodness and beauty within that goal. One of the things that all human beings have investigated despite different definitions and different views is the issue of beauty, which has been introduced to humans as perfection. The way of expressing the subject is different in different people, which depends on the intellectual basis of that person. The great Muslim philosophers did not directly address aesthetics in their writings and works, but in their writings, they mentioned topics that contemporary philosophers examine under the topic of aesthetics. There is a question that it is necessary to examine the opinions of a philosopher first of all to discuss the historical background and the history of philosophy? The word is clear and clear because the history of philosophy forms a platform within which philosophy itself finds meaning, philosophy does not arise out of nowhere, and if an opinion and idea is found in the words of a philosopher, the roots of that discussion can definitely be seen in the words of former philosophers. Therefore, in examining Avicenna's aesthetic opinions, the opinions of philosophers before Avicenna, especially Aristotle and Farabi, are very important. This word does not mean that the new philosopher has necessarily repeated the words of the predecessors, but generally they add something to the knowledge of the predecessors, which is well evident in Ibn Sina. Islamic philosophers have special definitions and views about beauty, according to them, the beauties in this world are imperfect and limited manifestations of absolute beauty, which is the Supreme. He says: Every beauty and perfection is a secret and a ray of God's beauty and perfection. . Or in another place he says: He is the source of all good and perfection and the source of all goodness and beauty. That is, God Almighty is the source of all goodness and perfection, and the source of all beauty and beauty.[1] He considers every beauty in this world to be a shadow and a ray of beauty in the upper worlds and other worlds, in which of course those worlds are empty and free of any defects, doubts and changes; But in this world they are similar to matter and defects and changes. Every power, perfection, scenery and beauty found in this fallen world are actually shadows and images of what is in that world. These things have been degraded and multiplied and have become crimes, after they were free from any kind of defect, flaw, defect, and purity, and from any dust, rust, and darkness. Islamic philosophers have seen the nature of beauty in the connection and proximity of that thing to God, which of course was influenced by Neoplatonic intellectual sources such as the Etology attributed to Aristotle, which were in It is actually a composition based on Plotinus' Enneads..

In general, Islamic philosophers did not consider literary and artistic creations as ends in themselves. Rather, their interest and purpose should be to explain the relationship of these creations with completely intellectual and rational goals. Therefore, in the definitions of beauty in the words of Muslim philosophers, the end is of special importance. And considering the goal, their intellectual path can be well explained.

Aesthetics in Islamic Philosophy

In the words of Muslim philosophers, beauty was not examined as an end in itself, but in their opinion, it was important to explain the relationship between these activities with purely rational goals. Especially about poetry and oratory, the emphasis of Islamic philosophy on them was a pragmatic and political emphasis, and they considered poetry and oratory as a tool and used it to convey the truths of the text of philosophy to the common people, whose intellectual abilities were assumed to be limited. and has changed the content as a whole.

In the aesthetic investigation that is common about the types of beauty, beauty is divided into two types, epistemological and ontological, each of these types has its own unique characteristics and definitions, and of course the cases and subjects that examine these types are different. The explanation is that if we examine beauty existentially, we must look at the existential roots of beauty, what are the elements of beauty in an existence and how is it formed? But if we have an epistemological view of beauty, the definition of beauty will have nothing to do with the elements of beauty, and we will focus on the epistemological elements of beauty. Now the question is, which one of these two types did Avicenna deal with, and is beauty in Avicenna's opinion epistemological or existential?

The answer is that in Avicenna's works, both epistemological beauty is dealt with, which he deals with in his book on the art of poetry and the subject of imagination, and ontological beauty, which he deals with in his treatise on love and music.

The remarkable point in this writing is that in this treatise, the topic of beauty is addressed from Ibn Sina's point of view, which is both epistemological and ontological in one place. The purpose of this treatise is to explain the beauty in Ibn Sina's words. And regardless of which type of beauty has been examined in his words, the element and definition of beauty has been examined analytically and descriptively. Because in the opinion of the philosopher himself, this separation did not take place and he analyzed and examined beauty in an absolute way.

Another point that should be taken into account when examining Avicenna's opinions is that Avicenna was a Muslim philosopher and the element of faith can be seen everywhere in his opinions, and this point is clearly visible that his view of creation and existence is not due to the mere existence of things and the world, unlike the Greek philosophers who Existence was considered to be the main foundation of creation. Ibn Sina based his thoughts and opinions on God. [2] Therefore, in this philosopher's definition of beauty, we see explanations and definitions that are completely different from the definitions expressed by other philosophers. which will be discussed in detail in the appropriate place.

Now the question is whether it is possible to reach a general rule regarding beauty in Ibn Sina's intellectual system? Or is it basically regular?

What is meant by beauty in Ibn Sina's opinion according to his philosophical foundations?

What are the roots and path of perception of beauty in Ibn Sina's opinion?

Note:

It should be noted that what is in this thesis It is not considered comparative, and no comparison has been made in it, and only the analysis of Avicenna's opinions has been done to be the basis for comparison and comparison with other opinions that have been investigated in this matter.