Continuity and Boundaries in Human-Animal Comparison in the Context of al-jahiz’s Kitab al-Hayawân

Authors : Şeyma Nur Tan

Pages : 97-110

Doi:10.26650/arcp.1360652

View : 47 | Download : 70

Publication Date : 2023-12-29

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :In the modern era, various disciplines have conducted interdisciplinary research on animal cognition and the evolution of language ability to investigate the similarities and differences between human and nonhuman animals. The central issues raised in these studies have their roots in philosophical literature. Al-Jahiz. (born 776, died 868/869), an Arabic prose writer, theologian, and litterateur, stands out in this literature for his determinations that deviate from the dominant paradigm of his time. In his Kitab al-Hayawan, al-Jahiz. , on the one hand, supposes a kind of continuity between human beings and nonhuman animals by highlighting certain similarities in terms of their abilities of istidlal (inference, deduction, reasoning based on effective cause) and nutq (the process of making sounds by organs of speech). On the other hand, he keeps the boundaries by mentioning the fundamental difference between humans in terms of these two abilities within the framework of the book’s central concept of maratib (creation ranks). Through a methodological and contextual analysis of the work, this study examines how the continuity and boundaries between human and nonhuman animals are reconciled in al-Jahiz. ’s thought and what this way of thinking means for fundamental questions in contemporary linguistics and philosophy of mind.
Keywords : Biliş, dil yetisi, istidlâl, nu tk, merâtib