Al-Ghazali, through his investigations, showed that both certainty of sense-perceptions (e.g. though the shadow of a stick that seems to imply that the stick is moving when it is not) and certainty of alleged intellectual truths (i.e. The possibility of judging an alleged fact in opposing and diverse manners) could be questioned.
Turning to dreams, al-Ghazaali illustrates that wakefulness is simply a higher consciousness of the dream state. Might there not be, therefore, (he questions), a state beyond that of habitual living that denotes a higher consciousness to that of life itself, hence, nullifying whatever beliefs we might cherish in this mundane world of ours? A hadith supports his supposition: "The people are dreaming, (but) when they die, they become awake." The Sufis call this a special mystic state of ecstasy when we have withdrawn into ourselves and are distinct from our senses.
Similarities and Differences between Al-Ghazali and Descartes
Similarities are striking in that both Descartes and al-Ghazali questioned the veracity of intellectual and sensory knowledge. Both set about examining their cognitive structures, although in reverse directions. Descartes commenced with presuming that all knowledge were questionable and he set about erecting a secure foundation on which he could base his beliefs, whilst al-Ghazali commenced by asserting belief then investigating how he could 'cut the ground out' from under that belief (and he did so by demonstrating that both empirical and intellectual knowledge could be spurious).
A striking similarity in both philosophical structures was the concept of an external Judge or force. To Descartes, that was a deceptive God or a demon that could have distorted our reality. To al-Ghazali that was a Judge who may have had an alternative perspective on much of our intellectual certitudes.
Both Descartes...
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