Ravanshenasi & Din

Despite substantial empirical advances, contemporary research on genius and advanced cognitive functioning continues to exhibit notable limitations, particularly a relative neglect of philosophical accounts and foundational analyses of the perceptual–cognitive structures underlying exceptional minds. The present study aims to revisit the concept of the “faculty of acuity” (quwwat zekavat) in the thought of Avicenna (Ibn Sīnā) and to elucidate its potential contribution to contemporary cognitive psychology. Employing a qualitative approach grounded in conceptual–interpretive analysis, key notions concerning the hierarchical structure of cognition were extracted from Avicenna’s primary texts and reinterpreted within the framework of modern cognitive theories. The findings indicate that acquired cognition comprises sensory, imaginal, estimative, and rational levels. Within rational cognition, three distinct stages are identified: discursive thought (fikr), intuition (ḥads), and acuity (zekavat). Discursive thought is characterized as stepwise syllogistic reasoning; intuition as the immediate apprehension of the middle term; and acuity as the highest level of inference, distinguished by greater speed and density of processing, enabling the integrated grasp of causal relations and the conclusions of multiple syllogisms simultaneously. Comparative analysis suggests that acuity may correspond to a form of highly efficient, integrated, and low-load cognitive processing. Furthermore, its origin is explained as innate, acquired, or a synthesis of both, with the highest manifestation emerging from the interaction between natural aptitude and cognitive cultivation. Overall, this study demonstrates that a renewed examination of acuity offers a theoretical framework for understanding advanced levels of learning and cognitive efficiency, while establishing a conceptual bridge between the Islamic philosophical tradition and contemporary cognitive science. Such a framework may contribute to the development of more comprehensive theoretical models in the study of genius and advanced education.