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Document Details : Title: Imagination et éthique de l'intellection Subtitle: Une lecture ricœurienne d'un récit d'Avicenne Author(s): VARLIK, Selami Journal: Etudes phénoménologiques - Phenomenological Studies Volume: 10 Date: 2026 Pages: 81-109 DOI: 10.2143/EPH.10.0.3295008 Abstract : Avicenna and Ricoeur follow Aristotle in viewing narrative as an imaginative and surprising imitation of an action, rather than of a an idea, to the point that the reader becomes disoriented by identifying with the plot itself. In parables, Ricoeur situates this tragic disorientation in opposition to metaphysical knowledge, which he sees as a vector of domination. In contrast, in Avicenna’s narrative, it is the pursuit of this same knowledge that leads to ethical disorientation. In Hayy Ibn Yaqzân, the action imitated, with which the reader must identify, is precisely the relentless struggle that rational reflection must wage against the evil represented by compositive imagination. Yet, this imagination not only carries an internal tension, as it can both guide and mislead, but its very representation is imaginative, as it unfolds within the narrative. Imagination thus serves to prompt the laborious ethical effort required by the act of thinking, both against and with the help of this imagination. The fundamental difference with Ricoeur lies in two distinct universes of prefiguration, as this conflict against evil in Avicenna is shaped by Quranic presuppositions, which diverge from Ricoeur’s Evangelical ones regarding the relationship between reason and imagination. |
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