The Experimental Intellect

The Experimental Intellect and how it comes into One knows from philosophical works the statement that “man is political by nature.”

The philosophers say “man is political by nature” when establishing prophecy and other things.

“Political” refers to the “town” (polis) which stands for human social organization.

The statement means that a single person cannot live by himself.

• He needs the co-operation of others to satisfy all his needs.

Such co-operation requires:

1. Consultation
2. Association
3. The things that follow after association

Dealings that have the oneness of purpose may lead to mutual affection.

Dealings that have differences in purpose may lead to strife and altercation.

From these spring mutual dislike or affection, friendship or hostility.

This happens haphazardly in stray animals, but not in humans.

God caused human beings to act in an orderly and well-arranged manner, politically, as the result of their ability to think.

Those political aspects and philosophical norms lead human beings:

• from evil to the good
• from the things that are detrimental
• to the things that are in their interest

Humans must first recognize, from sound experience and current customs:

• the evil things
• the detrimental effect of doing them

This distinguishes them from stray animals.

The concepts bringing this about are not completely divorced from sensual perception and do not require very deep study.

All of them are obtained through experience and derived from it. They are particular concepts connected with the sensibilia.

Their truth or falsehood soon comes out in events.

From events, the student of these concepts can learn them.

Each human can learn as much of them as he can.

He can pick up his knowledge with the help of experience among the events that occur in his dealings with his fellow men.

Eventually, he will learn:

• what is necessary and must be done
• what must not be done

Those who follow this (procedure) during their whole life become acquainted with every single problem, (but) things that depend on experience require time.

God made it easy for many human beings to obtain this (social knowledge) in a time shorter than the time required to obtain it through experience, if they will follow the experience of their fathers, teachers, and elders, learn from them, and accept their instruction.

People can, thus, dispense with lengthy and careful (personal) study of events and need not attempt to pick out concepts from them.

But people who have no knowledge or tradition in this respect, or people who are not willing to learn and to follow (others), need long and careful study in orderto be educated in these things. They are unfamiliar to them, and the knowledge they obtain of them is uneven.

Their manners and dealings with others will be badly planned and show defects. Their chances of making a living among their fellow men will be spoiled.

The famous saying is “He who is not educated by his parents will be educated by time.”

It means that he who does not acquire the manners needed in dealing with human beings from his parents, which includes teachers and elders, has to fall back on learning them from his own experiences.

Thus, time will teach and educate him how to get the co-operation of others.

Such is the experimental intellect.

It is obtained after the discerning intellect that leads to action, as we have explained.

The speculative intellect is higher than those 2 intellects.

Many scholars have explained it. And so I will not explain it in this book.