Metodo

International Studies in Phenomenology and Philosophy

Book | Chapter

176665

Reason, intellect, and consciousness in islamic thought

William C. Chittick

pp. 11-35

Abstract

In what follows, I address the broad contours of the Islamic "intellectual tradition," by which I mean philosophy and Sufism. Specifically, I want to suggest that the important issue for this tradition was not how the technical operation of intelligence that we call "reason" is accomplished, but how human intelligence itself can be fully actualized. Notions of reason, intelligence, and consciousness were rooted in concepts of human potentiality, and these represented versions of what can be called "spiritual anthropology." Human nature was understood as an on-going and ever-changing manifestation of the Divine Word or the Supreme Reality, and full actualization of this nature was seen as demanding a disciplined body, mind, and heart.

Publication details

Published in:

Tymieniecka Anna-Teresa (2011) Reason, spirit and the sacral in the new enlightenment: Islamic metaphysics revived and recent phenomenology of life. Dordrecht, Springer.

Pages: 11-35

DOI: 10.1007/978-90-481-9612-8_2

Full citation:

Chittick William C. (2011) „Reason, intellect, and consciousness in islamic thought“, In: A.-T. Tymieniecka (ed.), Reason, spirit and the sacral in the new enlightenment, Dordrecht, Springer, 11–35.