"Striking Similarities": Ibn Sīnā's Takhyīl and Kant's Aesthetic Judgment

Abstract

This article systematically compares Ibn Sīnā's paradigm of takhyīl, taṣdīq, and idh'ān to Kant's aesthetic ideas and judgment, rational ideas, and reflecting judgment, touching upon some previously investigated historical links (al-ḥiss al-mushtarak versus sensus communis, and ḥads versus ingenium). Its main purpose is to show that although the two thinkers have dissimilar perspectives on logic's relation to art and poetry leading to differences in many parts of their theories, a careful consideration of the particulars destabilizes many of the assumed differences.