Philosophy
vahid khademzadeh; Fatemeh Kanaani
Abstract
Introduction:In the framework of the conceptual metaphor theory, abstract concepts are understood by conceptual metaphors so that by removing these metaphors, a large part of the meaning of these concepts is lost. Therefore, these metaphors don't have only an educational or aesthetic role but also our ...
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Introduction:In the framework of the conceptual metaphor theory, abstract concepts are understood by conceptual metaphors so that by removing these metaphors, a large part of the meaning of these concepts is lost. Therefore, these metaphors don't have only an educational or aesthetic role but also our understanding and even our behavior are based on such metaphors. In this theory, metaphors are inseparable parts of scientific and philosophical theories.The human mind and how it works has been one of the greatest philosophical and scientific mysteries in the history of thought. Various theories have been offered throughout history about the nature of the mind. In the context of conceptual metaphor theory, it can be said that these theories are based on various conceptual metaphors; Some of these metaphors have been universal and some have belonged to a particular culture and age. For example, "mind as a container" is a common metaphor among different ages and cultures. In the context of this metaphor, the mind has a definite boundary that distinguishes the mind world from the outside world. Metaphors such as "mind as machine" and "mind as computer" were considered in contemporary analytical philosophy. Each of these metaphors highlights only one aspect of the concept of mind and inevitably hides the others. The mind can not be reduced to any of these metaphors.One of the functions of the mind is to acquire knowledge. Various metaphors have been proposed to describe this mind function. One of the most important of these metaphors is the "knowing as seeing" metaphor. This metaphor has roots in human common experience in the childhood period. So, this metaphor is accepted in different cultures and Languages. In addition to its existence in everyday and customary language, this metaphor has also found its way into philosophical and mystical texts.One of the Muslim philosophical innovations is to introduce intuitive knowledge as one of the types of knowledge. Since intuitive knowledge is not available to ordinary people, the linguistic systems have not developed specific words and terms to describe such knowledge. This makes it impossible to describe and explain such knowledge literally. Therefore, Mulla Sadra has used conceptual metaphors to describe intuitive knowledge. One of the most important of these metaphors is the "knowing as seeing" metaphor. This metaphor has been developed in Sadra's system and many sub-metaphors have been formed under this metaphor.In this study, the role of this metaphor in Sadra's philosophical system and its various dimensions are examined.Methods and MaterialsWords literally refer to one of the elements related to the act of seeing, which were discovered and extracted in Sadra's texts. Most of these words have been used to describe intuitive knowledge. Then, these words were categorized and the conceptual metaphors, associated with them, were introduced.Results and discussionIn the act of seeing, three elements are distinguishable: seer, seeable, and relation between them. Each of the three elements is used to explain intuitive knowledge by other sub-metaphors; “Knower as Seer”, “Known as Seeable” and “Quality of Knowing as Relation between Seer and Seeable” metaphors are defined below the “Knowing as Seeing” metaphor. The “Knower as Seer” metaphor has the sub-metaphors of "the quality of the knower as the purity or pollution of the seer" and "ignorance as blindness". The “Quality of Knowing as Relation between Seer and Seeable” metaphor has the sub-metaphors of "obstacles to acquiring knowledge as obstacles to seeing", "intensity and weakness of knowledge as the seer's proximity, and remoteness from the seeable".ConclusionsThe "knowing as seeing" metaphor is an inseparable part of the theory of knowledge in Mulla Sadra's philosophy; In Sadra's thought, knowledge of the essence of God is not possible, and on the other hand, God is described as the light of lights, which is the most visible being. Mulla Sadra uses one of the conventional human experiences to reconcile these two propositions. In conventional human experience, the sun is the brightest object, but the intensity of light in the sun prevents man from seeing it directly. Mulla Sadra maps this conventional experience into the supernatural world and introduces the intensity of divine light as an obstacle to the intuitive observation of the divine essence.In the popular view among Muslim philosophers, rational perception is the understanding of general concepts, but Mulla Sadra considered rational perception as the observation of beings who are present in the intellectual world. However, Mulla Sadra has used this conceptual metaphor to adapt his theory to the popular view. He introduces the distant observation of intellectual beings as the cause of the formation of general concepts in the human mind; because, in conventional human experience, distant observation is accompanied by ambiguity. This ambiguity causes the concept formed in the mind to be able to adapt to several instances.Blindness due to light intensity and distant observation clearly shows the vital role of the "knowing as seeing" metaphor in Mulla Sadra's epistemological system.
vahid khademzadeh
Abstract
Cognitive linguists use two instruments to explain the process of human cognition: image schema and conceptual metaphor. Image schema is a mental structure that is the result of human interaction with sensory things especially human body. Conceptual metaphor extends the image schema from sensory concepts ...
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Cognitive linguists use two instruments to explain the process of human cognition: image schema and conceptual metaphor. Image schema is a mental structure that is the result of human interaction with sensory things especially human body. Conceptual metaphor extends the image schema from sensory concepts to abstract concepts systematically. Usual human interaction with physical containers like human body, house, and vehicles create the image schema of in-out orientation (containment image schema) in the mind. Conceptual metaphors based on this image schema are used to conceptualize many abstract concepts as containers. Mulla Sadra uses Arabic words like ẓarf (container), wiʻā’(container), dār(house) and buqʻah (spot) to describe metaphysical concepts such as existence ,quiddity and non-existence. Also, he talk about going in or out of existence and non-existence. He uses external existence in opposition to mental existence. This evidences are understandable in the context of the containment image schema and conceptual metaphors based on this image schema.
Vahid Khademzadeh
Abstract
In cognitive linguistics, conceptual/cognitive metaphor refers to the understanding of an idea, or a conceptual domain, in terms of another. In fact, in the ‘cognitive metaphor theory’ (CMT), metaphors are mappings from one conceptual domain known as the source domain onto another conceptual ...
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In cognitive linguistics, conceptual/cognitive metaphor refers to the understanding of an idea, or a conceptual domain, in terms of another. In fact, in the ‘cognitive metaphor theory’ (CMT), metaphors are mappings from one conceptual domain known as the source domain onto another conceptual domain, known as the target domain, thus, the removal of metaphors will result in the failure of the relevant cognitive process. Greek and Muslim philosophers, including Parmenides, Plato, Aristotle, Avicenna and Sadr al-Dīn Shīrāzī (Mullā Sadrā), made use of the cognitive metaphorization of the real- or substantive existent entity as a ‘state of subsistence’. Each of the abovementioned towering philosophers presented their own recognition of a substantive-existent entity, but all converge in their emphasis on the crucial role of the ‘subsistence’ as a conceptual metaphor for understanding of the ontological state and the qualities of a substantive existent entity. Muslim philosophers also made use of terms such as ‘establishment’ (taqarrur) and ‘righteousness’ (qawām) which actually remain in the semantic sphere of ‘subsistence’ (thubūt) and are usually applied as cognitive metaphors for understanding of the qualities of a substantive existent entity. In the school of Avicenna, both being/existence (wujūd) and quiddity/essence (māhiyya) are considered to be in a state of subsistence, but in Sadr al-Dīn’s school, it is only the existence/being which must be regarded as being so.
