The relationship between seeing and knowing in the context of mental existence

This study reveals the differences in the understanding of mental existence within the Peripatetic tradition and the classical kalām tradition by considering the processes of vision and, consequently, knowledge. In the first chapter, the theories of vision and, in parallel, the theories of knowledge developed by Islamic philosophers and kalām thinkers are examined. However, prior to that, the views of Aristotle—due to his influence on these processes in the Peripatetic tradition—and the views of Plato—due to his influence on the soul theory in the kalām tradition—are discussed. In the second chapter, the differences in the conceptions of mental existence are analyzed with references to the perceptual processes discussed in the first chapter. Since Peripatetic philosophers and kalām thinkers represent two distinct intellectual systems, presenting the processes of vision, knowledge, and mental existence in a comprehensive manner is important, at the very least, for understanding the criticisms they directed at each other's systems. As a result of this study, the main reason why these two traditions stand on distinctly different lines lies in their differing understandings of existence, and accordingly, in the differences in their views of the nafs, which occupy a key position in their conceptions of knowledge. Therefore, the function of the nafs in acquiring knowledge has influenced the understanding of perception in both traditions to varying degrees.