The Application of Metaphors in Suhrawardī's Epistemology

Regarding the classical theory, metaphors have been regarded as decorative things, belonging to the literary language and distinctive from philosophical and scientific language. Besides, according to this theory, the basis of the forming of metaphors is the similarity between two phenomena. However, considering the contemporary theory, not only the literary language but also the scientific and philosophical ones are metaphorical. Moreover, the basis of the forming of metaphors is not only the objective similarities, but also the non-objective ones and experiential co-occurrences. In the contemporary theory, a metaphor is the transition of the source domain structure to the target domain. According to this theory, philosophical concepts are conceptualized through metaphors. Lakoff and Johnson believe that mind is conceptualized through metaphors. The present article shows that Shaykh al-Isḥāq (Suhrawardī) would also structure the mind through metaphors. In Suhrawardī's Epistemology, different aspects of perception are formulated through concepts such as seeing, illumination, manipulating objects, Constructions, mathematical calculations, and motion.