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The Truth and Scope of al-ʿIlm al-Ḥuḍūrī … A. Hussain & M. Karimi (59
definite and obvious matter. ʿAllāma the process of knowledge by
Ṭabāṭabāʾī has paid attention to human acquisition and the mechanisms
knowledge by presence in several through which it occurs.
discussions and chapters of his First Theory: The initial theory
philosophical reflections and has posits that sensations first interact with
proposed some theories in this regard. the body, and the soul is intrinsically
A part of the late Ṭabāṭabāʾī ’s linked to the body. It becomes
reflections can be rephrased as follows: connected with these sensations,
• He has divided knowledge into two gaining knowledge through their
categories: presence. Subsequently, the
a. Knowledge by presence imaginative power converts this
b. Knowledge by acquisition awareness of sensations into a learned
(Ṭabāṭabāʾī, 1993, p. 150). and visual form of knowledge, which is
• The late Ṭabāṭabāʾī enumerates then stored in memory. Following this
various types of knowledge by phase, which involves the development
presence. For example, self- of sensory and imaginative
knowledge of every single essence of representations in the mind through
itself, knowledge of the actions of an processes such as comparison and
abstract essence, the knowledge of abstraction, the mind also generates
the soul about its powers and tools general and intellectual concepts
through which it performs its (Ṭabāṭabāʾī, 1993, p. 236).
actions, knowledge by presence Second Theory: It posits that the
about emotions and feelings, interaction of the body with sensations
knowledge of cause about its effect, and objects serves as the essential
knowledge of effect about its cause groundwork for the soul, enabling a
and the knowledge of two effects limited engagement with the realms of
about each other that have a common ideas and rational thought.
cause (Ṭabāṭabāʾī, 1993, p. 239). Subsequently, the soul converts this
• According to the late Allama, immediate discovery, driven by urgency
knowledge by presence is infallible and necessity for both theoretical and
knowledge (Ṭabāṭabāʾī: 1993, p. 234). practical endeavors into knowledge
• In the opinion of Ṭabāṭabāʾī, the basic through acquisition, ultimately shaping
source of knowledge by acquisition is it into sensory, imaginative, and
knowledge by presence. In other intellectual awareness (Ṭabāṭabāʾī,
words, knowledge by acquisition 1993, pp. 239, 249, 313, 314).
returns to knowledge by presence. • The root and origin of the abstraction
He presents two theories regarding of some of the most fundamental
