Philosophical Story: A Study in the Structure and Concept of Discourse: Examples from Ibn Sina/ Ibn Tufail’s Hay Ibn Yaqthan and Al-Ghazali’s The Bird

Abstract

The philosophical story is a phenomenon that cannot be overlooked by thought and art; due to its enriched structure and form, a philosophical story received no attention. Philosophical stories are tales narrated by fabulous or real human or non-human creatures, such as animals or birds, with the aim to give lessons, express morals, or suggest certain philosophies. Drawing on this concept, this paper investigates philosophical story as a literary discourse with its own form and structure. Philosophical stories are morality narratives that flourished in the Arab and Muslim medieval worlds. To this end, two philosophical stories were chosen for analysis. These are Hay Ibn Yaqthan, a philosophical morality story that has been created by Ibn Sina, remodified by Ibn Tufail, and then re-structured by other medieval Arab and Muslim philosophers. The other one is The Bird, or a treatise on the Bird. This is a philosophical story presumably authored by Al-Ghazali. Philosophical stories have long been considered philosophical verses. This literary genre combined several mystic concepts, including reasoning, belief, and philosophy. The Muslim Sufist conceptualization of the universe has played a significant role in the formation of beliefs and ideas, which have later been manifested in relatable philosophies. Man’s thinking of the origin and creation of the universe represented the culmination of the medieval philosophies that have sought to interpret the relation between creatures and the Creator. These representations posed questions by humans on the fate of this world. This paper, therefore, investigates philosophical story as a piece of discourse with an elaboration of structure, aesthetics, iconicity, and dialogue as components of such genre.