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Al-Ghazali: Sense Perception

II. Truth by Sense Perception.

"In this and similar cases of sense-perception the sense as judge forms his judgement, but another judge, the intellect, shows him to be wrong in such a way that the charge of falsity cannot be rebutted.
"To this I said: 'My reliance on sense-perception also has been destroyed." —Al-Ghazali.

This is a quotation from Shaykh Al-Ghazali's literary work entitled, "Deliverance from Error (al-Munqidh min ad-Dalal), as translated by W.M. Watt in "The Faith and Practice of Al-Ghazali." 1   If Shaykh Al-Ghazali's statement were true, then study of natural theology would be impossible.  Since natural theology is the study of creation and its necessary causes, this study depends upon sense perception to gather information about the created order.  But, if our sense perception cannot be trusted, then neither can the results of our experimental observations be trusted.  

In Imam Al-Ghazali's pursuit to gain deliverance from error, he argued against the validity of sense-perception.  The following is a more complete quotation of his rationale for rejecting reliance upon sense perception.  He wrote,

"The outcome of this protracted effort to induce doubt was that I could no longer trust sense-perception either. Doubt began to spread here and say: 'From where does this reliance on sense-perception come? The most powerful sense is that of sight. Yet when it looks at the shadow (sc. Of a stick or the gnomon of a sundial), it sees it standing still, and judges that there is no motion. Then by experiment and observation after an hour it knows that the shadow is moving and, moreover, that it is moving not by fits and starts but gradually and steadily by infinitely small distances in such a way that it is never in a state of rest. Again, it looks at the heavenly body (sc. The sun) and sees it small, the size of a shilling (literally dinar); yet geometrical computations show that it is greater than the earth in size'.

"In this and similar cases of sense-perception the sense as judge forms his judgement, but another judge, the intellect, shows him to be wrong in such a way that the charge of falsity cannot be rebutted.

"To this I said: 'My reliance on sense-perception also has been destroyed." Page 23.

Although Shaykh Al-Ghazali did not seem to realized it, he engaged in a self-refuting argument.  First, he had to trust his visual sense to argue that the sundial appeared to be still and he had to trust his visual sense to argue that the shadow of the sundial had moved a distance after one hour.  If sense perception cannot be trusted, one ought not argue there was movement or there was non-movement.  In fact, if the visual senses cannot be trusted, he could not be sure he was looking at the shadow of a sundial. If sense perception cannot be trusted, then who knows what he was really looking at.  

He claimed that sense-perception's judgment was faulty, but he based this conclusion upon sense-perception.  Since he could not trust his visual sense perception, he had no right to ground his argument in what cannot be trusted, namely, his sense perceptions of the movement or non-movement of the sun dial.  Likewise, he was unjustified to claim the shadow had moved during the passage of one hour, because he obtained his information that the shadow had moved by looking (a sense perception) at the sundial's shadow after one hour.  But, if looking at a sundial's shadow does not give reliable information about the status of the sundial's shadow, then he could not be sure that the sundial's shadow had actually moved. 

Furthermore, he erroneously claimed that "the sense as judge forms his judgement." This statement is not sustainable.  The sense of sight does not judge anything. The sense of sight lacks mental capability.  It is the intellect alone that judges. There are not two judges, 1) the eyeball and 2) the brain.  The eyeball is like a camera, and a camera doesn't make rational judgments.  The eyeball merely records visual images, much like a camera.  It is the intellect alone that judges whether or not the sundial is moving.  In the first case, the intellect judges there is no movement because the visual sensory input appeared to be stationary.  Hence, the intellect judged there was no movement.  In the second case, the visual input had changed, and the intellect judged there had to have been movement. In both cases, the eyeball, like a camera, simply records the visual data and makes no intellectual judgment, because it lacks mental capabilities.  In both instances, the intellect alone interpreted the sensory data.

Al-Ghazali wrote, 

"Again, it looks at the heavenly body (sc. The sun) and sees it small, the size of a shilling (literally dinar); yet geometrical computations show that it is greater than the earth in size'"

Like a camera, the eye visualizes distant objects in smaller proportions.  Does this prove that our visual sense-perceptions are faulty?  Of course, not.  We don't consider a photographic camera to be faulty if more distant objects are smaller than more proximate ones in a photograph. It is because the human visual sensory system is consistent and reliable that the human intellect can make appropriate judgments about the relationship between distance and an object's size.  Furthermore, our geometric computations originated by first visually studying objects, such as, spheres, cubes, triangles, etc.  If sense perception were not to be trusted, then neither should the science of geometry be trusted.  In other words, Imam Al-Ghazali ideas would undermine geometry itself.

For example, the eye visualizes a rod in the air to be straight. The eye visualizes the same rod in water and different fluids to be bent at different degrees. The human intellect cogitates upon this sensory data; and, after considerable intellectual reflection, it judges that different fluids have different refractive indices. There is no tiny brain in the eyeball that intellectually reflects upon the sensory input.  The only judge of sensory data is the human mind.

The healthy eye faithfully records the visual data. Any judgmental error that occurs is an error that occurs in the intellect. Now, it is true that the intellect might judge that sundial shadow does not move. However, the intellect corrects itself when it notices that, with the passing of time, the shadow has moved.  By measuring the distance moved, the intellect can calculate the rate of movement.  Error resides in the intellect, and not the healthy sense organ.

In conclusion, I don't see any reason to grant Al-Ghazali's sensory agnosticism.  If the human sensory systems were not to be trusted, then our intellect could not trust any of its judgments about external reality.

Lastly, Allah has given humankind its sensory systems, so that we would have the necessary means to have true knowledge of our earthly environment.  It is a negative reflection upon Allah to think that Allah would endow creatures with sense organs designed to give us false information.  We expect good photographic devices from our local camera shop.  Surely, Allah is better than a camera shop when it comes to providing us with two excellent visual sense organs. 

If our visual senses cannot be trusted, how can our visual input be trusted when we look at the text of the Bible or the Qur'an.  If Shaykh Al-Ghazali's sensory agnosticism were true, he undermines the ability to read correctly the text of any sacred writing.  If our visual senses lack reliability, then our reading would lack reliability too.  Blind people don't have good visual sense organs; and, therefore, they cannot visualize a beautiful sunset or a sacred text.

Therefore, since Imam Al-Ghazali's agnosticism is not granted, creation can be intelligibly studied to the glory of Allah.  Natural theology gives us true knowledge of Allah.  We echo the words of King Dawud,

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.  Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.  There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard." Ps 19:1-3 (NIV)

Last edited 04/02/2000

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