Ma`rifat Falsafi

In its specific philosophical usage, 'intuition' (shuhūd) refers to the direct apprehension of truth, which in philosophy is termed as 'knowledge by presence' (ʿilm ḥuḍūrī). The human soul, according to principles such as 'al-nafs ʿayn al-badan' (the soul is identical with the body), 'al-nafs fawq al-badan' (the soul is beyond the body), 'al-nafs fī waḥdatihā kull al-quwā ḥattā al-ḥissiyya' (the soul in its unity encompasses all faculties, even the sensory ones), 'al-nafs fī waḥdatihā muttaḥid maʿa al-mādda bi-shidditihā wa ḍaʿfihā' (the soul in its unity is united with matter in its intensity and weakness), and 'al-nafs fawq al-mādda' (the soul is above matter), is not only there at the level of sensory faculties but is also present in the external realm of the sensible itself. The senses themselves possess certain characteristics that enable multiple modes of perception. Philosophers have offered various formulations of the theory of 'sense intuition.' Based on the aforementioned principles -and with the addition of the two key doctrines, 'al-nafs fī waḥdatihā muttaḥid maʿa al-mādda bi-shidditihā wa ḍaʿfihā' (the soul in its unity is united with matter in its intensity and weakness) and 'al-nafs fawq al-mādda' (the soul is above matter)- a maximalist formulation of the theory can be defended. This paves the way for a renewed reading that reconfigures the scope of knowledge by presence to include the material and sensible world. Employing an analytical method, this paper demonstrates that in addition to the three foundational principles emphasized by philosophers, two further principles -al-nafs fī waḥdatihā muttaḥid maʿa al-mādda bi-shidditihā wa ḍaʿfihā and al-nafs fawq al-mādda- must also be taken into consideration. Based on this framework, the soul enjoys a maximal degree of sense intuition, both in the domain of its faculties (i.e., the sensory organs) and in the realm of external sensibles, in accordance with the bodily characteristics that are actualized in the senses and body in varying intensities. This intuition includes knowledge by presence of bodily sensibles, cognitive faculties, and non-bodily sensibles within their respective domains.