Abstract
This paper aims to explain and compare the viewpoints of Ibn Sīnā and Ibn Ḥazm concerning the soul's self-knowledge. Ibn Ḥazm is a thinker belonging to the literalist Ẓāhirī school. He considers the knowledge and cognitive contents of the human soul as God's creation and the rational soul as their source. In his view, man's ability is not that of creation (khalq) but that of 'acquisition' (kasb). He also believes that the soul is incapable of knowing its own essence. He sets down his views concerning the rational soul in the form of a dialogue. This dialogue suggests that Ibn Hazm does not consider the soul's self-knowledge as immediate or 'by presence' ('ilm-ḥuḍūrī, i.e. unmediated knowledge of the known object).
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