• Home
  • ابن‌سینا
  • OpenAccess
    • List of Articles ابن‌سینا

      • Open Access Article

        1 - Circularity of the Definitions of Nature and Truth of Time in Ibn Sīnā’s View
        Hamid  Shahriari
        Ibn Sīnā has provided two definitions for time, which Khwājah Naṣīr al-Dīn Ṭūsī believes to be circular. The first definition has appeared in Ibn Sīnā’s al-Ishārāt and introduces time as incompatible priority and posteriority. Some philosophers, such as Āqā Ḥussayn Khān More
        Ibn Sīnā has provided two definitions for time, which Khwājah Naṣīr al-Dīn Ṭūsī believes to be circular. The first definition has appeared in Ibn Sīnā’s al-Ishārāt and introduces time as incompatible priority and posteriority. Some philosophers, such as Āqā Ḥussayn Khānsārī, believe that the circular nature of Ibn Sīnā’s definition of time in this book poses no problem because the concept of time is an axiom, and the existence of circularity in the definition of an axiom is natural. His other definition has been given in al-Shifā. Here, the nature of time is defined in the sense of a measure of motion as divided into prior and posterior components. In this definition, time contains disjunctive quantity (time as the number of motion) in addition to continuous quantity (time as amount of motion). The present paper aims to provide a clear picture of the definition of the nature of time in Ibn Sīnā’s view in his al-Ishārāt and al-Shifā in al-Ṭabi’iyyāt chapter. Following an analytic comparative study of Ibn Sīnā’s works, the author concludes that Khwājah Naṣīr al-Dīn Ṭūsī’s perception of Ibn Sīnā’s definitions of the nature of time were not inconsistent and, rather, he intended to provide another analysis of the truth of time. Manuscript profile
      • Open Access Article

        2 - God’s Knowledge of Particulars in the Views of Ibn Sīnā and Thomas Aquinas
        Mohammad Mahmoodi Hossein Kalbasi Ashtari
        One of the fundamental questions in the field of philosophical theology is whether God has the knowledge of particulars. Some philosophers have tried to either demonstrate or deny the divine knowledge of particulars regardless of the term “God”, which is a controversial More
        One of the fundamental questions in the field of philosophical theology is whether God has the knowledge of particulars. Some philosophers have tried to either demonstrate or deny the divine knowledge of particulars regardless of the term “God”, which is a controversial issue. In a philosophical tradition that began with Plato and Aristotle and was advocated by Ibn Sīnā, the divine knowledge of particulars is denied. However, within the framework of the same philosophical school, Thomas Aquinas, as a theologian, demonstrates this knowledge for God. In Ibn Sīnā’s view, there is a fundamental difference between quiddity and existence as two different levels of being. The Necessary Being is the cause of granting existence to quiddities and, thus, cannot know them in terms of their particulars, as they lack “existence” in separation from Him. However, Ibn Sīnā does not deny the divine knowledge of particulars through their “existence”. In Aquinas’ theological concept of God, as a personal God, the denial of the divine knowledge of particulars defaces the divine power. Moreover, in case of denying this Knowledge, Man, who is created by God, will be placed at a higher level than their Creator because they can gain the knowledge of particulars. Aquinas, who speaks as a theologian here, ignores the borderline between philosophy and theology and objects to Ibn Sīnā by stating that some universals such as “animal” and “human” cannot function as the distinctive features of a particular such as “Socrates” in comparison to others. The present paper provides a comparative analysis of the views of these two philosophers regarding God’s knowledge of particulars. Manuscript profile
      • Open Access Article

        3 - A Study of Ibn Sīnā’s Argument on the Accidental Nature of Unity in Ilāhīyyāt al-Shifā’
        Mihammadhadi Tavakoli
        According to Aristotle, a number of philosophers in ancient Greece theorized that the “one” is an independent substance that performs a causal role in relation to other substances. Through clarifying the predicative nature of the “one” and referring to the false consequ More
        According to Aristotle, a number of philosophers in ancient Greece theorized that the “one” is an independent substance that performs a causal role in relation to other substances. Through clarifying the predicative nature of the “one” and referring to the false consequences of the above theory, he tried to reject it. Ibn Sīnā has extensively investigated the theory of the one’s being a substance and Aristotle’s related criticisms in the ilāhīyyāt section of al-Shifā’. Unlike Aristotle, he has not merely referred to the one’s being a predicate and, rather, through a lengthy and complex argument, has tried to demonstrate that unity, as the source of the derivation of the one, is a necessary accident. Ibn Sīnā’ argument is prone to criticism from different aspects, the most important of which is the confusion of categorical and analytic accidents with each other. Unity is merely an analytic accident, and Ibn Sīnā’s argument is incapable of demonstrating its being a categorical accident. Manuscript profile
      • Open Access Article

        4 - An Analysis of the Ascension of the Holy Prophet (ṣ) of Islam Based on the Philosophical Principles of Ibn Sīnā and Mullā Ṣadrā
        Maryam Samadieh Abdulrazzaq  Hessamifar
        In the view of Ibn Sīnā and Mullā Ṣadrā, the Prophet’s ascension was an indisputable truth, and those who deny it are among unbelievers and deviators from the right path. Ibn Sīnā believes that the Prophet’s ascension was not corporeal because the body cannot traverse a More
        In the view of Ibn Sīnā and Mullā Ṣadrā, the Prophet’s ascension was an indisputable truth, and those who deny it are among unbelievers and deviators from the right path. Ibn Sīnā believes that the Prophet’s ascension was not corporeal because the body cannot traverse a very long distance in a moment. Thus, it was intellectual and spiritual. In other words, as the route of the Prophet’s ascension passed through immaterial worlds, one cannot consider this journey a corporeal one. However, Mullā Ṣadrā explicitly speaks of the corporeal quality of the Prophet’s presence in ascension. He believes in the corporeal presence of the Prophet (ṣ) in his heavenly journey as well as the corporeal nature of what happened to him in the night of ascension. Nevertheless, their corporeality is in proportion to the worlds in which the Prophet (ṣ) travelled. Mullā Ṣadrā considers three types of body for human beings: rational, Ideal, and elemental. He maintains that earthly journey is of the elemental type, and heavenly journey is of the Ideal and rational types. He also believes that the Prophet (ṣ) wore the corporeal attire in conformity with the worlds to and through which he travelled. This paper investigates and analyzes the quality of the Prophet’s presence in the night of ascension and the otherworldly things that happened to him during that night following a descriptive-analytic approach and based on the views of Ibn Sīnā and Mullā Ṣadrā. Manuscript profile
      • Open Access Article

        5 - Place of Intuitive Method in Islamic Philosophy
        Rasoul  Naderi
        Islamic philosophy is mainly identified by its use of demonstration and method. However, a study of philosophical texts in Islamic tradition indicates that the intuitive method holds an important place in this field. This method employs gnostic intuition and unveiling i More
        Islamic philosophy is mainly identified by its use of demonstration and method. However, a study of philosophical texts in Islamic tradition indicates that the intuitive method holds an important place in this field. This method employs gnostic intuition and unveiling in order to attain certain knowledge. The intuitive method was used in all the three major schools of Islamic philosophy; nevertheless, it was employed systematically and in an organized fashion for the first time in the Transcendent Philosophy. While emphasizing the use of rational method, Mullā Ṣadrā has also benefitted from the intuitive method to a large extent. The functions of this method are employed in two contexts: discovery and justification. In the context of discovery, Muslim philosophers have utilized the intuitive method to explain new philosophical problems and present a correct picture of some philosophical issues. In the context of justification, they have used it to discover middle terms, unveil fallacies, reconstruct demonstration, amend conclusions, and demonstrate rational arguments. Manuscript profile