Human Intellection and Active Intellect according to al-Farabi

Abstract

The subject of this paper is the analysis of al-Farabi's views on the pro-cess of human intellection. The analysis consists of three parts. In the first part, the stages of human intellection, that is, the potential intellect, the actual intel-lect, and the acquired intellect, are considered. In the second part, the Active Intellect's role in terms of intellection is analyzed. According to al-Farabi, the Active Intellect provides both the potential intellect to become the actual intel-lect and the actual intellect to transform into the acquired intellect, and it pro-vides the intellection at this stage. As for the last part, the question 'How do the first intelligible occur in the soul' is tried to be answered, and the acquisition of the secondary intelligible that occurs depending upon the first ones and their connection with happiness is considered. According to al-Farabi, the first intel-ligible are potentially found in the human mind a priori and revealed through abstraction. Nevertheless, Active Intellect is needed for this activity. By means of the secondary intelligible, which are also acquired with the help of the Active Intellect, human being gains the end; and thus, it becomes possible to attain happiness in the world and afterlife. Al-Farabi builds his conception of the hu-man being based on the concept of Active Intellect. This concept also lies at the center of his intellect-centered philosophical system.