Avicenna: Živý, syn Bdícího, Pták a Salamán a Absál. Iniciační příběhy
Date issued
2013
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Západočeská univerzita v Plzni
Abstract
Avicenna (980–1037) was one of the foremost thinkers of the Islamic East and a unique representative
of falsafa, the medieval Islamic Hellenistic philosophy. The present paper focuses
on his philosophical-mystical recitals Hayy ibn Yaqhdan (The Living, Son of the Vigilant), Risalat
at-Tair (The Epistle on Bird) and Salaman wa Absal (Salaman and Absal) and presents
them as a cycle of initiation stories. The protagonist of these stories is the human intellect,
which undergoes the journey towards higher knowledge under the guidance of an initiator,
the Active Intellect. Using the language of symbols and metaphors, Avicenna presents the
central elements of his teachings – the theory of intellect, psychology, epistemology, the theory
of matter and form, cosmology, emanation theory, angelology and theology – and emphasizes
the angelic nature of the human soul and its capability of reaching salvation from the material
world and returning to God, its spiritual point of origin.
Description
Subject(s)
Avicenna, islámská filozofie, islámský novoplatonismus, iniciace, islámský mysticismus
Citation
Akta Fakulty filozofické Západočeské univerzity v Plzni. 2013, č. 3, s. 34-54.