Conjecture and its Position in Ibn-Sinā

In today logic, it is common place to consider conjecture reliable only for the one who has it, while Ibn-Sina regards it as the source of all, or at least some of, human knowledge. Therefore some questions arise about the essence and the function of conjuncture.To find an answer to such questions, the author in this article studies the definition of conjuncture, its relation to the middle term, as well as its relation to comprehension, education, thought, logic, and experiment. He believes that some generalizations made by Ibn-Sina transformed logical conjuncture into mystical intuition. The result of conjuncture, i.e. cognition intuitiva, has had a different history, and most often are deemed unreliable except for the one who has experienced it. The author enumerates three cognitive functions for conjuncture, namely, conjecture as a method, as a source, and as a type of knowledge that leads to a kind of foundationalism. The last part of the article deals with the scientific function of conjuncture and its similarity to “inference to the best explanation” and concludes with at least three differences (in content, in form, and in function) between the two.