Document Type : Research Paper

Author

• mehdi abbas zadeh

Abstract

This paper is an endeavor to conduct a comparative study of the viewpoints of Johannes Duns Scotus, Scottish philosopher and theologian (1266- 1308), on epistemology and knowledge, and Ibn Sina’s beliefs on the same issues. Given the fact that Scotus had studied the Latin translation of Ibn Sina's book, al-Shifa, the present study provides evidence as to how Scotus was influenced by Ibn Sina’s viewpoints under such issues as perceptional faculties, process of perception, natural object of reason, kinds of knowledge, levels of certainty, etc. While Scotus and Ibn Sina had been both influenced by Aristotle and the peripatetic tradition, there are still observed differences between them. Logical reasons, therefore, urge us to conduct a comparative study concerning the viewpoints of the two thinkers. With the above in mind, we will take into consideration the different atmospheres and cultures in which they lived; living and thus thinking in a Christian environment for one, and in an Islamic atmosphere for the other.

Keywords

• Knowledge
• Perception
• sense
• Imagination
• Reason
• active intellect
• intuition
• illumination
• Certainty