A Comparative Study of Perceiving Meaning in Positivism and Islamic Philosophy

Cognitive sciences encompass various theories on the perception of meaning. Some of these theories are based on positivism. According to the main doctrine of positivism, the only valid cognitive tool is sensation (senses). Valid sciences, according to this thought school, are those that observe and experiment with the apparent relationships and connections of objects. Sensationalist psychology is one of these sciences. In this field, human perception is studied at the level of nerves, neural stimuli, and brain activities. Some branches of this type of psychology consider perception to be material. In this type of psychology, the meaning of perception is only explained through sensory tools and a completely materialistic approach. This perspective is rejected by many Islamic scholars because sciences associated with positivism only provide a materialistic explanation of phenomena, while many phenomena have immaterial and abstract aspects. From the perspective of Islamic philosophy, in addition to the senses, human intellect holds a special position in perceiving meaning. This perception takes place at different levels and through various tools, but ultimately, the main source of meaning is the human self. This study first examines how the perception of meaning is examined in positivism and then explains how the perception of meaning is understood from the perspective of Islamic philosophy. The method of study is descriptive, analytical, and comparative