Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Laws in AvicennianPhilosophy

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Ph.D. student, Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, Tehran, Iran

2 Professor, Faculty of Theology and Islamic Philosophy, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Avicenna has aimed to establisha harmonized philosophical system that incorporates logic, epistemology, metaphysics, natural philosophy, and other types of knowledge. Although he has not directly written anything about the metaphysical foundations of science, we believe that there are some implications in his philosophy that could be considered astruthmakers of scientific propositions. As natural law is significantly correlated to “experiment”, we will first discuss the epistemological aspect of experiments in Avicennian philosophy. He believes that the observation of a repeated event could lead us to a causal relationship due to the fact that accidental events are neither permanent nor frequent. Following that, the logical approach which corresponds to this epistemology will be introduced. As Avicenna’s logic does not directly consider such an approach, we are to derive it from apparently disconnected chapters and then formulate them. It will be indicated that Avicenna has been aware of the differences between propositions that merely refer to existent instances and ones that consider the nature of instances. The latter obviously could refer to both existent instances and hypothetical instances. Finally, we present some points in his metaphysics that could establisha metaphysical basis for propositions concerning natural law. In addition, we will indicate that Avicenna’s system is able to justify the counterfactual conditionals that relate to laws of nature.

Keywords

References

Ardestani, M. A. (2011). Al-Nafs al-amrin Islamic philosophy. Islamic Research Institute for Culture and Thought. [In Persian]
Avicenna (Ibn Sina). (2015). Al-Īshārātwaal-tanbīhāt, vols. 2 & 3. Bustan-iKitab. [In Arabic]
Avicenna (Ibn Sina).(2013). Al-Īshārātwaal-tanbīhāt. Matbua-at Dini. [In Arabic]
Avicenna (Ibn Sina). (1908). Al-Rīsālahfī al-ḥudūd (al-Rasāʾlfī al-ḥīkmahwa
al-ilāhīyyāt). Dar Al-Arab. [In Arabic]
Avicenna (Ibn Sina). (1984). Al-Taʿlīqāt. Maktabal-Alamal-Islam. [In Arabic]
Avicenna (Ibn Sina). (1997). Kītāb al-shīfāʾ(al-ilāhīyyāt). Bustan-e-Kitab. [In Arabic]
Avicenna (Ibn Sina). (1984). Kītāb al-shīfā (al-mantīq), vol. 1. Ayatollah Marashi Najafi Library. [In Arabic]
Avicenna (Ibn Sina). (2012). Kītāb al-shīfā (al-burhān). Islamic Research Institute for Culture and Thought. [In Arabic/ Persian]
Avicenna (Ibn Sina). (1985). Kītābal-nījāt. Mortazavi Publishing. [In Arabic]
Azimi, M. (2014). Tahlīl-e Mantīqī-e Gozārīh. The High Association of Islamic Philosophy. [In Arabic/ Persian]
Gohari, A., & Ghazalifar, A. (2015). Introduction to the scientific method and its factors in Avicenna’s metaphysics. Epistemological Researches, 4(9),
89-112. [In Persian]
Gorbani, G. (2018). Taǧrobahazmanẓar-e Ibn Sīnāvafīlsoufān-e moʿāṣīr-e īlm. Cultural Institute for ContemporaryKnowledge and Thought. [In Persian]
Lammer, A. (2018). The elements of Avicenna’s physics: Greek sources and Arabic innovations. DeGruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110546798
Lowe, E. J. (2006). The four-category ontology: A metaphysical foundation for natural science. Oxford University Press.
McGinnis, J. (2008). Avicenna’s naturalized epistemology and scientific method. The Unity of Science in the Arabic Tradition, 129-152. 
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8405-8_5
McGinnis, J. (2018). Ibn Sina’s natural philosophy. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
URL=<https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2018/entries/ibn-sina-natural/>
McGinnis, J. (2007). Logic and Sscience: The role of genus and difference in Avicenna’s logic, science, and natural philosophy. Documenti e studi sulla tradizione filosofica medievale, 18, 165-187.
McGinnis, J. (2003). Scientific methodologies in medieval Islam. Journal of the History of Philosophy, 41(3), 307-327.  
https://doi.org/10.1353/hph.2003.0033
Starr, W. (2022). Counterfactuals. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 
URL = <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2022/entries/counterfactuals/>.
Strobino, R. (2021). Avicenna’s theory of science: logic, metaphysics, epistemology. University of California Press, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv20dsb01
Strobino, R. (2018). Ibn Sina's logic. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. URL=<https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2018/entries/ibn-sina-logic/>.
Send comment about this article
CAPTCHA Image
Journal of Philosophical Theological Research
Volume 25, Issue 1
March 2023
Pages 53-73

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics