Intentionality in Avicenna
A reconstruction based on his notion of ‘consideration’
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21597978 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mohsen Saber (0000-0001-5582-8225, Stony Brook University, corresponding author), Majid Tavoosi Yangabadi (Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 32 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 1241-1253 |
| Publication date | 2024-11-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | British Journal for the History of Philosophy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0960-8788 • E-ISSN: 1469-3526 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/09608788.2023.2220758 |
| OpenAlex | W4385457861 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 14 |
Although Avicenna does not explicitly develop a ‘theory of intentionality', one can reconstruct his account of intentionality through an analysis of his thoughts on the relation between mind, meaning, and thing. We take up this task in this paper through an analysis of Avicenna's theory of the considerations of quiddity. First, we clarify Avicenna's idea of ‘quiddity', and show how it functions as a core of ‘meaning' which remains identical in its different modes of realization. Second, through an examination of the very notion of ‘consideration' (i‘tibār), we distinguish between two aspects of the mind, i.e. mental act and mental existence. This helps us clarify what Avicenna means by the existence of a quiddity in mind and in what sense, if any, it is essential to intentionality. Third, addressing the problem of the relation between ‘mental existence' and ‘external existence’, we show how the mode of existence of a quiddity, including its concrete existence, is posited in and through intentionality. This implies that both being and quiddity are moments of the intentional object, and thus, intentionality, for Avicenna, is a dyadic relation between the intentional act and the intentional object. We conclude by reconstructing the structure of intentionality in Avicenna
Constructive · Epistemology · Intentionality · Linguistics · Computer Science · Families in Therapy and Culture · Islamic Thought and Society Studies · Medieval and Classical Philosophy · Philosophy · Psychology
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| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |