Necessary Existence and the Doctrine of Being in Avicenna’s Metaphysics of the Healing
Series: - Investigating Medieval Philosophy, Volume: 15
In Necessary Existence and the Doctrine of Being in Avicenna’s Metaphysics of the Healing Daniel De Haan explicates the central argument of Avicenna’s metaphysical masterpiece. De Haan argues that the most fundamental primary notion in Avicenna’s metaphysics is neither being nor thing but is the necessary (wājib), which Avicenna employs to demonstrate the existence and true-nature of the divine necessary existence in itself. This conclusion is established through a systematic investigation of how Avicenna’s theory of a demonstrative science is employed in the organization of his metaphysical science into its subject, first principles, and objects of enquiry. The book examines the essential role the first principles as primary notions and primary hypotheses play in the central argument of Avicenna’s metaphysics.
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Daniel D. De Haan, Ph.D. (2015) University of St Thomas and KU Leuven, is a Research Fellow at Oxford University. He has published in The Journal of the History of Philosophy, Arabic Sciences and Philosophy, The Thomist, Quaestio, Documenti e studi.
'Avicenna scholars know well that Avicenna (980–1037) aspired to present his metaphysics in the form of an Aristotelian science. The mélange of topics that make up Avicenna’s Metaphysics often appears disjointed and rambling, making it difficult to see how successful he was in this aspiration. Daniel D. De Haan’s book provides an aerial view of Avicenna’s Metaphysics, which argues that Avicenna succeeded. More specifically, De Haan suggests how Avicenna’s conception of the “necessary” links the general subject of metaphysics (namely, being qua being) to its ultimate goal (namely, a scientific study of God). In this respect, De Haan’s work is less of a commentary on Avicenna’s Metaphysics than a metacommentary [...] De Haan’s study overall is rich and rewarding for anyone who intends to take a deep dive into Avicenna’s Metaphysics of the Healing.'
Jon McGinnis, in Journal of the History of Philosophy 60 (2021).
Jon McGinnis, in Journal of the History of Philosophy 60 (2021).
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Primary Sources and Translations
Works of Avicenna
Other Primary Works
Introduction: Avicenna’sMetaphysics of the Healing
The Problematic
An Outline of the Contents
Summary
1Logic, Knowledge, and Questions
1.1Avicenna’s Logic in Context
1.2Knowledge by Conceptualization and Assent
1.3The Heuristic Order of Questions
Concluding Remarks
2Conceptualization, Assent, and Scientific Knowledge
2.1Primary and Acquired Knowledge by Conceptualization
2.2Primary and Acquired Knowledge by Assent
2.3Logic, Knowledge, and Demonstrative Science
Concluding Remarks
3Subject & Goal of the Science of Metaphysics
3.1Avicenna’s Metaphysics of the Healing in Context
3.2The Subject & Goal of a Scientific Metaphysics
3.3The Objects of Enquiry of a Scientific Metaphysics
Concluding Remarks
4The Scientific First Principles of the Science of Metaphysics
4.1Scientific First Principles and Interpretations ofssIlahiyyatsss
I
.5–8
4.2Conceptualization, Assent, and the Textual Division ofIlahiyyat
I
.5–8
4.3The Goal ofIlahiyyat
I
.5–8
Concluding Remarks
5The Four Senses of Being and the Scientific Principles of Metaphysics: A Formal Approach
5.1The Four Senses of Being in Aristotle, al-Farabi, & Avicenna
5.2Avicenna’s Integration of the Four Senses of Being and the Scientific Principles
Concluding Remarks
6The Four Senses of Being and the Scientific Principles of Metaphysics: A Material Approach to the Principles of Conceptualization
6.1Primary Notions
6.2A Comparison of the Primary Notions
Concluding Remarks
7The Four Senses of Being and the Scientific Principles of Metaphysics: A Material Approach to the Principles of Assent
7.1Primary Hypotheses
7.2Primary Axioms
Concluding Remarks
8Beingper se & Beingper accidens: On the Analogy & Accidentality of Existence
8.1Beingper se & the Analogy of Existence
8.2Beingper accidens & the Accidentality of Existence
Concluding Remarkss
9The Basic Primary Notions in Avicenna’s Metaphysics
9.1The Primary Notions as Prior to their Opposites
9.2Primary Notions: Subordination by Intensional Priority
9.3The Intensional Subordination of One(wa?id)
9.4The Intensional Subordination of Thing(šay?)to Being(mawjud)
Concluding Remarks
10The Fundamental Primary Notion in Avicenna’s Metaphysics
10.1The Necessary as the Fundamental Primary Notion in Ontology
10.2The Necessary as the Fundamental Primary Notion in Aitiology
10.3The Necessary as the Fundamental Primary Notion in Theology
Concluding Remarks
Conclusion
Bibliography
Primary Sources and Translations
Secondary Sources
Index
Abbreviations
Primary Sources and Translations
Works of Avicenna
Other Primary Works
Introduction: Avicenna’sMetaphysics of the Healing
The Problematic
An Outline of the Contents
Summary
Part 1: The Logical Context of the Metaphysics of the Healing
1Logic, Knowledge, and Questions
1.1Avicenna’s Logic in Context
1.2Knowledge by Conceptualization and Assent
1.3The Heuristic Order of Questions
Concluding Remarks
2Conceptualization, Assent, and Scientific Knowledge
2.1Primary and Acquired Knowledge by Conceptualization
2.2Primary and Acquired Knowledge by Assent
2.3Logic, Knowledge, and Demonstrative Science
Concluding Remarks
Part 2: Scientific Order of the Metaphysics of the Healing
3Subject & Goal of the Science of Metaphysics
3.1Avicenna’s Metaphysics of the Healing in Context
3.2The Subject & Goal of a Scientific Metaphysics
3.3The Objects of Enquiry of a Scientific Metaphysics
Concluding Remarks
4The Scientific First Principles of the Science of Metaphysics
4.1Scientific First Principles and Interpretations ofssIlahiyyatsss
4.2Conceptualization, Assent, and the Textual Division ofIlahiyyat
4.3The Goal ofIlahiyyat
Concluding Remarks
Part 3: Scientific Principles and the Senses of Being
5The Four Senses of Being and the Scientific Principles of Metaphysics: A Formal Approach
5.1The Four Senses of Being in Aristotle, al-Farabi, & Avicenna
5.2Avicenna’s Integration of the Four Senses of Being and the Scientific Principles
Concluding Remarks
6The Four Senses of Being and the Scientific Principles of Metaphysics: A Material Approach to the Principles of Conceptualization
6.1Primary Notions
6.2A Comparison of the Primary Notions
Concluding Remarks
7The Four Senses of Being and the Scientific Principles of Metaphysics: A Material Approach to the Principles of Assent
7.1Primary Hypotheses
7.2Primary Axioms
Concluding Remarks
8Beingper se & Beingper accidens: On the Analogy & Accidentality of Existence
8.1Beingper se & the Analogy of Existence
8.2Beingper accidens & the Accidentality of Existence
Concluding Remarkss
Part 4: Basic & Fundamental Principles in the
9The Basic Primary Notions in Avicenna’s Metaphysics
9.1The Primary Notions as Prior to their Opposites
9.2Primary Notions: Subordination by Intensional Priority
9.3The Intensional Subordination of One(wa?id)
9.4The Intensional Subordination of Thing(šay?)to Being(mawjud)
Concluding Remarks
10The Fundamental Primary Notion in Avicenna’s Metaphysics
10.1The Necessary as the Fundamental Primary Notion in Ontology
10.2The Necessary as the Fundamental Primary Notion in Aitiology
10.3The Necessary as the Fundamental Primary Notion in Theology
Concluding Remarks
Conclusion
Bibliography
Primary Sources and Translations
Secondary Sources
Index
All interested in the philosophy of Avicenna, medieval philosophy, the history of Aristotelian metaphysics, the transcendentals of being, and anyone interested in medieval Islamic philosophical theology.