The Intended Meaning
Instincts, in Shahrur’s view, are unconscious desires of physiological origin, not a matter of conscious choices They are shared by humans and animals, unlike desires, which he considers conscious inclinations with a cognitive and social origin
The Atom’s Structure in the Atlas
- Type of argument: definitional
- Movement of the argument: distinguishing instincts from desires as unconscious and physiological.
- Central terms: instincts, desires, unconscious, physiological.
- Degree of centrality: pivotal.
It sets a conceptual boundary between two drives in the human being, and prevents conflating what the author considers innate and unconscious with what he sees as acquired and conscious, bearing a cognitive and social dimension.
Reading Aids
- Muhammad Shahrur the Book and the Qur’an
- Islam, Faith, and Righteous Deeds
- Immoralities and Desires Are Interpreted within the Distinction between the Self and History
Grounding
- Supporting text: “Desires: conscious human desires of cognitive and social origin. Instincts: unconscious desires of physiological origin shared with animals.”
Degree of Documentation
- Level: directly documented
- Meaning of the level: the atom is based on an explicit witness close to the formulation of the claim.
- Limits of the reading: the wording above is an analytical summary and should not be treated as a verbatim quotation unless the witness is cited textually.
Its Function in the Book
Its function here is definitional; it establishes a meaning or conceptual distinction on which Shahrur relies in building the idea.
Related to
Editorial Note
This atom prepares a reading of immorality and desire within a semantic distinction, not only an ethical one.