A History of Mediaeval Jewish PhilosophyHusik, Isaac
ReligionJewish
A History of Mediaeval Jewish Philosophy
Husik, Isaac
Philosophy, Jewish; Philosophy, Medieval
The three kinds of soul, vegetative, animal and rational, we have
already met before. We have also referred to the fact that Judah Halevi
analyzes correctly the well-known Aristotelian definition of the soul.
We must now give a brief account of the inner senses as Judah Halevi
took it from Avicenna. The five external senses, seeing, hearing,
touching, smelling and tasting, give us merely colors, sounds, touch
sensations, odors and tastes. These are combined into an object by the
_common sense_, known also as the _forming power_. Thus when we see
honey we associate with its yellow color a sweet taste. This could not
be done unless we had a power which combines in it all the five senses.
For the sense of sight cannot perceive taste, nor can color be
apprehended by the gustatory sense. There is need therefore of a common
sense which comprehends all the five external senses. This is the first
internal sense. This retains the forms of sensible objects just as the
external senses present them. Then comes the _composing power_ or power
of imagination. This composes and divides the material of the common
sense. It may be true or false, whereas the common sense is always true.
Both of these give us merely forms; they do not exercise any judgment.
The latter function belongs to the third internal sense, the _power of
judgment_. Through this an animal is enabled to decide that a given
object is to be sought or avoided. It also serves to rectify the errors
of reproduction that may be found in the preceding faculty of
imagination. Love, injury, belief, denial, belong likewise to the
judging faculty together with such judgments as that the wolf is an
enemy, the child a friend. The last of the internal senses is that of
_factual memory_, the power which retains the judgments made by the
faculty preceding.
In addition to these sensory powers the animal possesses motor
faculties. These are two, the _power of desire_, which moves the animal
to seek the agreeable; and the _power of anger_, which causes it to
reject or avoid the disagreeable. All these powers are dependent upon
the corporeal organs and disappear with the destruction of the latter.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account