From the Realm of Light to the Horizon of Phenomenon; an Analytical Approach to the Foundations of Perception in Suhrawardi and Husserl

Document Type : Original Research

Author

Department of Philosophy of Art, Sanandaj Campus (Sa.C.), Islamic Azad University, Sanandaj, Iran

Abstract
The question concerning the nature of perception is a fundamental issue in both the Illuminationist philosophy of Suhrawardi and Husserl's transcendental phenomenology. This study aimed to demonstrate that perception in both traditions is not a mental representation but rather an ontological and immediate event of presence. In Suhrawardi’s philosophy, the self-subsisting truth is the condition of possibility for knowledge, and perception is interpreted as a luminous unification between the knower and the known. Conversely, Husserl conceives perception as a directed structure of consciousness through which the phenomenon appears in the mode of Gegebenheit (givenness). The findings suggest that light in Suhrawardi's metaphysics and intentionality in Husserl's phenomenology both function as mediating structures in the process of manifestation. Thus, true cognition in both systems is attained through the intuitive presence of truth within consciousness, rather than through mere conceptual analysis.

Keywords

Subjects

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Volume 5, Issue 3 - Serial Number 19
Summer 2025
Summer 2025
Pages 385-399

  • Receive Date 30 May 2025
  • Accept Date 08 August 2025
  • Publish Date 09 September 2025