The Structure of Perception in Recognizing Pleasure and Pain According to Avicennan Philosophy

In Avicenna’s work, pleasure and pain are explained and described in detail. However, not much research has been done on how perception determines pleasure and pain. In this study, two issues have been discussed: first, the place of ‘innate’ and ‘acquired’ perception in recognizing pleasure and pain; second, that in Avicenna’s intellectual system, pleasure is not limited to material and sensual pleasures, and non-sensual pleasures have strength and intensity. By explaining and describing the true nature of pleasure and pain, Avicenna seeks to overcome natural and animal pleasure and move towards intellectual and spiritual pleasure. Therefore, in Avicenna’s philosophical system, sensual pleasure means the feeling</em> of the suited, and intellectual pleasure means thinking</em> about the suited. In his interpretation of pleasure, Avicenna, in addition to the word ‘perception’, also used the word ‘attainment’. Since something is attained when its essence is present for the perceiver, pleasure is not attained by taking what is equal to the pleasant thing, but only by attaining the essence of the pleasant thing. In a content analysis of Avicenna’s work, we realize that attention to intellectual and spiritual pleasure is one of the most important features of his philosophical system, which he has also described as ‘bliss’.