Annotation
Across Avicenna´s psychological writings we encounter references to a curious thought experiment: we are invited to imagine that we are created all at once, perfectly developed in both body and mind, floating in a thin air and in darkness in such a way that we don´t sense-perceive anything at all, not even our own body; nonetheless, Avicenna insists we will be aware of ourselves (or our essence). This thought experiment seems to have a twofold function: (i) it makes us alert to a phenomenon which is always with us without our realizing this constant presence; (ii) it allows us to make inferences about our soul´s metaphysical status.
The aim of this seminar will be to explore both the phenomenological characteristics of the Avicennian self-awareness and its alleged metaphysical consequences. This topic, while being of a cardinal importance for Avicenna´s psychology, is nowhere explored systematically. We will go through selected parts of Avicenna´s psychological works (Healing: On the Soul I.1, I.5, II.2, V.2, V.7; Salvation: On the Soul 3, 7, 8, 10; Pointers and Reminders II.3.1-4) led by the question of how the self-awareness to which the Flying Man experiment (encountered on three different occasions) alerts us fits into his theory. We will also have a look at relevant passage in Avicenna´s late Notes and Discussions adding many interesting observations about self-awareness. And we will constantly be asking about the influence of Avicenna´s argument on Latin Medieval (and Early Modern) philosophy.
We will work with English translations. Knowledge of French, Latin or Arabic is very welcome, but it is not a condition.