The effect of Illumination on the way back from Aristotle to Plato
pp. 25-35
in: Nazif Muhtaroglu, Detlev Quintern (eds), Islamic philosophy and occidental phenomenology in dialogue, Berlin, Springer, 2014Abstract
Aristotle brought Plato's theory of ideas from the heavens to the earth. However, the human being could at best see the form/copy and languished embodiment of the idea in the things. The thousands of years of scientific development was not enough for the human being, whose starting point was the sensory experience, to reach the ultimate truth. Though the discovery of the structure and form of things, and expressing them in mathematical patterns had demonstrated the great potential and possibility of logical thinking, it was impossible to prove that the reached conclusion was adequate to the truth. On the contrary, it became obvious that whenever a human stepped aside from logic, due to his/her inner illumination the truth was revealed more clearly. In this context, the term "Illumination (Ishraq)" as used in medieval Eastern philosophy, in particular in Ishragism Doctrine, expresses a shorter way that the cognition can lead to the truth. The ideas existing in things as a form/copy are thus discovered by a human being, as a living idea in his/her own "I" and hence, the truth is revealed within himself/herself. The living idea is not merely information, but also a source of excitement and life and in order to understand it, there is a need to refer to the concept of Ontopoiesis.
