Knowledge as the starting point of Mantiq
Knowledge is the form or representation of a thing in the mind. There is conceptual knowledge, which comes by way of a mental image and an intermediary, such as knowledge of fire or knowledge of a sickness through its signs.
There is also presential knowledge, which has no intermediary, where the very thing known is directly present, such as a person’s awareness of his own pain or awareness of himself.
Mantiq concerns itself with conceptual knowledge, because it studies these mental representations and their correct order, not presential knowledge, which lies outside its field.
Concept and assent
Within conceptual knowledge, mantiq distinguishes between concept and assent.
A concept is the grasp of a mental picture without any judgement, such as forming the image of a square or a sea of mercury, without deciding whether it exists or what belongs to it.
An assent is a concept together with a judgement, such as judging that the angles of a square are equal, or judging that a sea of mercury is impossible in existence.
In mantiq, assent is not used as the opposite of denial in everyday language. Assent stands opposite to concept. It is concept plus a judgement, whether that judgement is true or false. To claim that there exists a sea of mercury is an assent, even though it is false in external reality, because it connects a concept with a claim of existence.
The place of assent is the declarative sentence that has a subject and a predicate. The place of concept is single words, commands, questions, and incomplete compounds which do not contain a complete judgement.
Self evident and acquired knowledge
Both concept and assent are divided into self evident and acquired. A self evident concept, such as the concept of heat or that one is half of two, is recognised without needing a proof.
An acquired concept, such as the concept of jinn or the concept that one is half of one sixth of twelve, needs thought and working out.
Self evident assents, such as the judgement that the whole is greater than the part, do not need proof.
Acquired assents, such as the judgement that the universe is originated, or that one is half of one sixth of twelve, need reasoning and argument.
This structure shows how mantiq maps out the different levels of knowledge.
Signification as the first step in detailed mantiq
Mantiq begins with the topic of signification, because understanding signification is a condition for entering the detailed logical discussions.
Signification is the state of a thing such that knowledge of it leads to knowledge of another thing. The first is called the sign, the second is the signified, and the relation between them is signification.
The pillars are three:
- sign,
- signified,
- and the relation of signification between them.
Examples include knocking at a door which leads the mind to the presence of a visitor, or seeing smoke which leads the mind to the presence of fire.
For signification to be realised, two conditions are required. There must be knowledge of the necessary connection between the sign and the signified, such as knowing that smoke is necessarily linked to fire.
There must also be the actual existence of the sign, such as the real knocking or the real smoke, so that the mind can move from it to the signified. Without both, there is no real signification.
Types of signification
Signification is divided into three main types:
- rational,
- natural,
- and conventional.
Rational signification is the signification of an effect for its cause or a trace for its maker, such as footprints indicating the passer by.
Natural signification is like the sounds and signs that flow from a nature without prior agreement, such as a sound of pain, or blushing in the cheeks which reveals shyness.
Conventional signification rests on agreement, such as the red traffic light signalling the need to stop, or written symbols which mark addition, subtraction, and other operations.
Each of these three types can be verbal and non verbal, so there is rational verbal and rational non verbal, natural verbal and natural non verbal, and conventional verbal and conventional non verbal.
Focus of mantiq on conventional verbal signification
Although all these forms exist, the main concern of mantiq is conventional verbal signification. Natural signs differ from one nature to another, and rational non verbal signs are not used to build the detailed rules of this science.
Conventional verbal signification is determinate and controlled, and is the basis for communication of meanings among people. For this reason, the discussions of mantiq focus on words and how they signify meanings by convention.
Within conventional verbal signification, three types are discussed.
- Signification by conformity is when a word signifies the whole meaning for which it was coined, such as the word masjid indicating the entire masjid.
- Signification by inclusion is when a word signifies part of that meaning, such as using masjid while intending only one section.
- Signification by implication is when a word points to a meaning that lies outside the basic meaning for which it was coined, but is necessarily connected to it, such as the personal name Antarah implying courage, or Hatim implying generosity.
Simple and compound expressions
Because mantiq works with verbal expressions and their signification, it divides expressions, in relation to their meaning, into simple and compound.
A simple expression is one whose part does not signify a part of its meaning. This includes letters such as the letter ba or the interrogative hamzah, and single words like Zayd when used as a proper name, even if the word has several sounds, because those sounds do not each carry a separate part of the meaning.
A compound expression is one whose part does signify a part of its meaning, such as the phrase servant of Allah when used in its descriptive sense. In this usage, the word servant gives a partial meaning that enters into the full meaning, namely that this person is characterised by servitude to Allah, so the whole phrase is a compound expression in mantiq.
Concept and instance
Mantiq is concerned with meanings, not with mere sounds. The meaning, when present in the mind, is called a concept. When the same meaning exists outside in external reality, it is called an instance.
The thought of fire is the concept of fire, while the actual burning fire is an instance. The concept human being is a mental meaning, while each individual human outside is an instance. The work of mantiq is with concepts and with how they are ordered and combined in thought.
Universal and particular concepts
Concepts are divided into universals and particulars.
A universal is a concept that can be shared by many individuals, such as the concept human being, which can apply to many people. A particular is a concept that does not admit multiple individuals, such as the concept of one specific person like Zayd.
This division relates to meanings, not to words. It is not accurate to say that the word human being is universal in itself, because the letters and sounds are not what is universal. Universality belongs to the meaning that the word carries in the mind. This again shows that mantiq is built on meanings and concepts rather than on speech.
Necessary connection and reasoning
Necessary connection between sign and signified is the inner basis of reasoning. Every type of syllogistic reasoning, whether in the form of analogy, inclusion, incomplete induction, or complete induction, rests on some necessary connection.
Any change from known premises to an unknown conclusion depends on such a relation of necessary implication.
Overall structure of mantiq so far
Mantiq studies conceptual and assent based knowledge, with the aim of uncovering what is unknown and guarding the mind from error. Concepts lead to the chapter on definition, and assents lead to the chapter on syllogism.
To prepare for the five universals that form the foundations of concepts, several preliminary matters are needed:
- understanding signification and its types,
- especially conventional verbal signification and its three forms of conformity,
- inclusion, and implication,
- then understanding the division of verbal expressions into simple and compound,
- and the division of meanings into concepts and instances,
- and of concepts into universals and particulars.
