The Pillars of the Cognitive System for Thinking
Yahya mohamed
In (Science of Methodology علم الطريقة), we identified the pillars of the cognitive system of human thinking in the various fields of knowledge that consist of five pillars which are; the source of knowledge, the methodological mechanism, the generators and directives, production, and the questioning of the subject (such as understanding the text). They can briefly be identified as follows:
1- The source of knowledge: is the source that contains the origins of knowledge, formation, and foundation, such as the religious text, reason, objective reality, and inspiration.
2- Methodological mechanism: It is a method of exploring knowledge and applying it depending on the source of knowledge. The mechanism may be inductive, analogical deductive, textualism, mysticism, inspirational, logical, existential, normative, etc. In this respect, it is "methodological reasoning," and the philosophical division of reason as theoretical reasoning and practical reasoning is trivial unless methodological reasoning is applied, without which the two reasons above cannot fully exercise their role.
Accordingly, the division of reason becomes threefold: theoretical, practical, and methodical, and the first two reasoning is expressed as "substantive reasoning," while the third expresses a "formal reasoning."
Rather, this three reasoning can be reduced to two: content (theoretical, practical) and formal, and the relationship between the content and formal reasoning is an indispensable dynamic.
3- Generators and a priori Directives: by generators, we mean the priori assets on which the methodological mechanism depends in questioning the subject of research and deducing its meaning, through which knowledge is generated and produced, so we called them fundamental generators, similar to the directives, but the difference between the latter and the former is that the former works on the production of knowledge, while the directives do not play this generative role, but rather guide them in the formation, interpretation, and understanding of knowledge in one direction, or their use for specific purposes.
4- questioning: It is a mental practice concerned with getting to know a specific subject, such as the religious text, the universe, and so on. Concerning the religious text, this has been called comprehension, and this has different forms of interpretations and exegesis. Thus, it is distinguished from all other forms of questioning related to external things and nature.
This practice is considered an element of the structure of the cognitive system because part of the activity of the system is devoted to questioning the external subject, as in the case of understanding the religious text, and the cognitive system may have nothing to do with this understanding, such as the systems employed to know the scientific reality of nature.
What is important in the matter is that the cognitive system can include various doctrines and sciences, the advantage of which is that they share the five elements referred to, even if they sometimes differ about the nature of questioning - such as understanding the religious text.
Questioning in practice requires the existence of a subject on which this activity is achieved. In the case of religious understanding, the subject is represented by the text.
In general, every mental activity by the method of questioning requires the existence of its subject, for the activity related to the interpretation of nature requires the existence of the latter as a subject of what is known as natural science. The same goes for all other cognitive activities. All of these practices produce results that are the outcome of this cognitive activity.
For example, understanding as a practice results in understanding as an outcome, and natural science as a practice also results in knowledge as an outcome, etc. Therefore, the questioning here, whether in religious understanding, science, or others, is taken on both counts as a practice and an outcome due to their interrelationship. Still, the basis for that remains the practice and not the outcome. Considering that general practice, whether in understanding, science, or other forms of cognitive questioning, does not accept evaluation, contrary to the outcome, where it is subject to error, skepticism, or fact.
5- Productive and generative: It is also one of the mental practices that result in a certain outcome, and therefore the generative is a practice and an outcome of the interrelationship between them, and the same is in the case of cognitive questioning as in religious understanding.
Generative is the outcome of all that results from knowledge, whether it was before or after the questioning process, i.e., whether it expresses the priories of knowledge resulting - directly and indirectly - from generators and directives, or is the product of the process of questioning the subject - such as understanding-
Translated by Zaid Kanady
The reference
https://www.fahmaldin.net/index.php?id=2568