Abstract:

In parallel with the expansion of its borders, the Islamic world encountered with different thought systems such as philosophy and thus many disciplines especially al-kalām (theology), were influenced by philosophy. With the entry of the discipline of logic, which is a part of classical philosophy, into the Islamic world, an interaction began to occur between the discipline of al-kalām and philosophy. In terms of showing this interaction, the distinction between external and inner senses, which is among the important discussion topics of philosophy and al-kalām thought traditions, is an important example. Avicenna (d. 428/1037) revised the philosophical knowledge about the formation stages of knowledge by making changes in the number and nature of external-inner senses. This change he made led to the discussion of the problem of the senses in a wider area and enabled Avicenna to be an important reference source in the discussions on the formation stages of knowledge. On the other hand, thinkers like Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (d. 606/1210) criticized the theory of senses developed by Avicenna because of the reason that it was not suitable for their own thought system. While Islamic philosophers accepted inner senses, which are among the subjects that theologians and philosophers disagreed about, the scholars of theology generally did not. In this context, the views of Shams al-dīn al-Samarqandī (d. 722/1322), on the subject have an important place in terms of the relationship between philosophy and theology disciplines. Unlike the classical period theologians, al-Samarqandī adopted the distinction external and inner senses of Avicenna and dealt with the subject of inner senses from an Avicenna perspective in his theological works he wrote. In the classical tradition of al-kalām thought, while the sources of knowledge are only external senses, true hearsay, and reason, according to al-Samarqandī’s approach, internal senses are needed in order for the external senses to complete the process of acquiring knowledge. According to al-Samarqandī, who states that the human soul, which is strengthened by disciplining the soul, can acquire knowledge without the senses, incompetent souls need external and internal senses in order to obtain the knowledge of the objects in the outer world. The forms obtained by the five sense organs, which are called external senses, are transferred to the internal senses, and the process of formation of knowledge continues. al-Samarqandī –like Avicenna- examines the inner senses in five parts: common sense (al-ḥiss al-mushtarak), representative imagination (al-muṣawwira), estimation (wahm), compositive imagination (al-mutakhayyila), and memory (al-dhākira). Inner senses are neuro-physiological, not psychological, according to al-Samarqandī. For this reason, al-Samarqandī, who tries to determine the places of the inner senses in the brain, uses the damage of the relevant parts and the resulting lack of function to prove the accuracy of his determinations. With this study, it will be shown that al-Samarqandī associates the theory of inner senses, which is the subject of philosophy, with al-kalām and evaluates inner senses among the subjects of this discipline. It will also be shown that al-Samarqandī was influenced by Avicenna in this matter. Thus, it is aimed to fill an important gap in the literature about the interaction of the two disciplines and its dimensions. Although some studies have been done on the subject before, different results have been obtained from the claim of our article. Before including the views of al-Samarqandī on the external and internal senses, it will be determined how kalām scholars examined the two senses because the discussion of the existence of inner senses is of great importance in terms of showing the interaction of philosophy and theology disciplines with each other. For this reason, firstly, how the tradition of al-kalām approaches inner senses will be discussed. Then, the characteristics of the five sense organs will be explained and how they perform their functions will be discussed. In the last part, inner senses and various problems related to the subject will be emphasized.

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