IBN AL-HAYTHAM’S CONCEPTION OF BEAUTY: AN ANALYSIS FROM KITāB AL-MANā？IR AND THAMARA AL-？IKMA

In this article, Ibn al-Haytham’s (d. 432/1039-40) conception of beauty is discussed within his works, Kitāb al-Manā？ir and Thamara al-？ikma. Ibn al-Haytham evaluates the perception of beauty and and the formation of judge on beauty in his Kitāb al-Manā？ir by depending on the certain characteristics in the object such as light, colour and position. In the literature of Islamic aesthetics, Ibn al-Haytham’s these explanations lead to interpretations that the philosopher’s account of beauty is formed in a totally sensuous and experiential way. The most fundamental focus of these interpretations is the differentiation of Ibn al-Haytham from the general structure of Islamic thought, which deals with the beauty of ethics and metaphysics. This interpretation ignores that his purpose in the Kitāb al-Manā？ir, is to explain that how the perception of beauty is subjected to the sight, rather than how this perception appears. Moreover, this interpretation brackets his approaches to sciences and arts in his other works. In fact, Ibn al-Haytham, in his Thamara al-？ikma, defines wisdom as a unity consisted of science and ethics and connects every science and art to ethics. In his mind, all sciences and arts represents the steps on the road of wisdom. Through these steps the human being looks like God in terms of action. Therefore, he relates all sciences and arts to metaphysics on the highest level. These explanations in the Thamara al-？ikma show that Ibn al-Haytham’s conception of beauty cannot be read only from his Kitāb al-Manā？ir, and therefore he does not radically break away from the conception of Islamic metaphysics and ethics