The Improvement of Human Reason

The Meaning Behind a Name

In Hayy Ibn Yaqzān, Hayy's name shows exactly what the book is describing: how human reason has improved and will improve. With Hayy as a representation of mankind, the evolution of his thoughts shows the evolution of mankind's sophistication and spirituality, both past and future.

Hayy starts out fairly senseless, with no regard for life. This is seen in his reaction after his mother died (cut her open and dump her in a hole) and the subsequent dissections and vivisections. He begins to rank forms of life, with himself as above animals and animals above plants. However, as he begins to delve into more complex philosophy, he begins to understand the importance of other forms of life, to the point where he would rather go hungry than eat a single fruit, let alone kill an animal. This is only one of many of Hayy's evolutions in thought, but it is a good indicator of how his reasoning and ideas became more sophisticated throughout the book.

In addition, his thinking itself became more complex. He begins by simply categorizing what he sees around him, such as plants, animals, and inanimate objects. He then starts drawing conclusions about different observations, such as the idea of density or states of matter. When he comes up with the idea of religion, his ideas become much more abstract and complex, and the conclusions that he draws up are far deeper than his previous ideas. While his thoughts become more sophisticated over the course of his book, the main evolution happens in his thought process and ability to reason.