Taṣawwur

تصورtaṣawwur

Preferred translation
conception
Grammatical variants
  • conceptions
  • conceived
Technical sense
grasp of a content with no affirmation or denial
Distinguish from
taṣdīq (assent) — taṣawwur is the content grasped with nothing affirmed or denied of it; taṣdīq is the affirming or denying itself.

General Technical Meaning

In logic and philosophy, taṣawwur has a broad and a restricted use. Broadly, it is unrestricted mental presence and is coextensive with knowledge, which itself divides into taṣawwur and taṣdīq. Restrictedly, simple taṣawwur is apprehension without assent to an affirmative or negative relation.

In ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī’s Works

In al-Manāmāt, conceptions are paired with assents as notional or estimative cognitions through which the human being seeks completion; the logical distinction between conception and assent remains intact.

Source: Bidāyat al-Ḥikmah · Risālat al-Manāmāt wa-l-Nubuwwāt

Read in context

Open a passage in the edition where this term is linked.

Canonical address: /glossary/tasawwur/