Intuitive and Abstractive Cognition
The theory of intuitive and abstractive cognition was developed by John Duns Scotus in the late thirteenth century, and it dominated the discussion about cognition from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century. The theory was changed and debated by the maj
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act Ibn ‘Arabı¯ belongs to a kind of mysticism or Sufism that can be considered esoteric: he seeks mystical experiences and is strongly influenced by Neoplatonism. He claimed that the experiential and intuitive knowledge he possessed came directly from God. The use of philosophical doctrines and terminology makes his work of great interest to philosophers. Among his doctrines, the most important are the transcendental unicity of being and the perfect man, who plays a central role in creation. Born in Murcia (Spain) in 1165, Abu¯ Bakr Muh: ammad ibn ‘Arabı¯ is also known by his various epithets: ‘‘The Master of Masters,’’ ‘‘Sultan of the Gnostics,’’ and ‘‘Reviver of Religion.’’ He lived in Seville, where he received his education and was influenced by two great women mystics. In Cordoba, he met Ibn Rushd, an encounter that represents the meeting of two great figures in Islam that personified different paths to the Truth: the Gnosis and reason. He traveled throughout North Africa and the Near East: Cairo, Mecca, Konya, Baghdad, Aleppo, and Damascus, where he died in 1240. He wrote about 350 works, which range from brief treatises to his great book The Meccan Illuminations, containing 560 chapters dealing with different sacred sciences and his own spiritual experiences. Another of his most widely read works is The Bezels of Wisdom, in which, over 26 chapters, he expounds the fundamental doctrines of Islamic esoterism. The Interpreter of Desires is also famous, a poetic text centered on love and desire. All of his work is difficult to read and hard to understand, as it is written in his own style of language using very technical vocabulary, based on that used in the
earliest Sufi texts. The reader must learn not only the exact meaning of his words but also the related nuances and images. This is a complex symbolic language that requires deciphering. His constant evocation of the meeting with the prophets, his continual affirmation that he is conversing with the saints of the past, his claim to a special divine inspiration through an angel or the prophet Muh: ammad, and his incessant recourse to the so-called evidence for the invisible earned him charges of unorthodoxy and, even, of being a satanic spirit. Seen as a pantheist by some, others have emphasized the eminently spiritual character of his thought. Through him, Islamic esoterism provided the only doctrines that could guarantee the survival of the spiritual tradition among those who ran the risk of going astray due to incorrect reasoning. He has been considered as a ‘‘philosopher’’ like any other, precisely because he formulated a complete metaphysical and cosmological, psychological and anthropological doctrine, which in principle seems to signal a break with the Sufi tradition existing up until that point. However, he adopted a clear position against philosophy of Greek origin and even stated that the science of the philosophers is totally vain. He rejected reflection because it causes confusion and lack of truthfulness. He also maintained that reflection is a v
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