The Ontology of Imagination in the Islamic Philosophy

Having studied semantics of imagination according to the celebrated references, the author has gone to propose the views of different philosophers on the difference between imagination and fantasy. Alfarabius has considered imagination and fantasy as one single faculty and thus he has rarely used the word imagination in his works. On the contrary, Avicenna has equally used the two terms in his works. In some of his works, as it is known, Suhrawardi has regarded imagination and fantasy two faculties with two different functions; however, in his Hikmatu al-Ishraq, he has considered imagination fantasy and estimation as one identical faculty assuming different names in different aspects. Following the celebrated scholars and in his early efforts, Mulla Sadra regarded imagination and fantasy two different faculties; nonetheless, due to the fact that he has contrasted the grades of understanding to the three grades of existing words, we can infer that in his view the two faculties must be one. In this article, after he has studied imagination and fantasy in the works of prominent Muslim philosophers of three major schools, the author has gone to answer the question of the ontology of imagination.