Suhrawardī’s Epistemology of Sense Perception: Direct or Indirect Realism?

Sense perception is a specific type of perception that arises from the mind’s encounter with the tangible world through the activation of one of the five senses (sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell). Through this process, a person discovers the surrounding world and acquires a significant portion of their awareness. Sense perception is considered one of the important sources of human knowledge. Realistic theories of sense perception are categorized into two main types: "direct realism" and "indirect realism". According to direct realism, individuals can directly identify the entirety or, at the very least, some qualities of physical objects around them without the involvement of a mental medium. In contrast, indirect realism posits the existence of a mental medium, referred to as a "sense-datum", as the immediate object of knowledge. The majority of Islamic philosophers adhere to indirect realism, with Sheikh Shihāb al-Dīn Yaḥyā Suhrawardī being a notable proponent of direct realism. Presently, most contemporary Western epistemologists lend support to direct realism. Suhrawardī's perspective initially appears ambiguous, as some of his works suggest an inclination towards mental mediation, while others indicate a belief in direct realism. This article aims to delve into Suhrawardī's viewpoint and establish that his definitive stance aligns with direct realism.

کلیدواژه ها:

sense perception ، Shihāb al-Dīn Yaḥyā Suhrawardī ، direct realism theory ، indirect realism theory