Ibnul-Mutahhar Al-Hilli’s Theory of Knowledge

Abstract

Scholars disagree about the way knowledge is acquired. Some of them have considered memorization as a means to it; others have considered revelation and witnesses as the best means to attain it; and there are other views. The present researcher has shed the light on Al-Hilli’s view in this respect. Al-Hilli probed this field and plunged into it. He extracted its pearls from their shells and exposed them to the reader so as to dazzle him by the beauty of their style and depth of their content. His view has been studied at three levels: perception,reasonableness and the way knowledge is attained. I have indicated in this paper Al-Hilli’s attitude under each of the three axes.In fact, he has a deep point of view and a clear penetrating sight in this respect. He introduced details in the fields of knowledge and the ways it is acquired. In the axis of perception, he mentioned the outer senses, precisely described them and considered them the base of attaining knowledge. He also mentioned the inner senses and their types. In the axis of reasonableness, I have mentioned his attitude towards the outlet of self-perfections and his view about the meaning of psyche. He has the lead in this respect. In the axis of attaining knowledge, I have shown his view that knowledge is attained through the outer and inner senses followed by mentality, then it ascends to the power of conjecture and the sacred power

Keywords

Logic