Definition of Perfection According to Ibn Sīnā and its Relationship with Goodness, Virtue and Happiness

جستارهایی در فلسفه و کلام

Volume 55, Issue 1 - Serial Number 110, August 2023, Pages 119-138   

Document Type: Original Article

DOI: 10.22067/epk.2023.80078.1194

Author

zakaria baharnezhad^*

Associate professor, Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, Shahid Beheshti University

Abstract

Ibn Sīnā believes that the divine wisdom requires every being to reach the perfection it wishes for and is worthy of, and every state of human states also requires perfection that leads them to a goal. Ibn Sīnā considers perfection, like thinking and reasoning, as one of the essential constituent features of the human existence and as the common goal of all fields of knowledge and states that, compared to the concepts of goodness and happiness, the concept of perfection is desirable for itself. He has expressed the definition of perfection in different ways: 1. while defining the intellective soul, he has explained the definition of perfection, 2. for defining philosophy, he has used the concept of perfection and maintains that the seeker of philosophy should learn philosophy to achieve perfection, and 3. he has used the concept of perfection to explain the concepts of goodness, happiness and pleasure. Through examining what perfection is and the relationship it has with the concepts of good, pleasure, and happiness, it becomes clear that the realization of good and happiness depends on the occurrence and acquisition of perfection, and it can be said that perfection has a kind of priority in terms of essence and rank over them. This article uses a kind of text-based phenomenology along with the descriptive-analytical method to deal with the collected information.

Keywords

Ibn Sīnā; perfection; goodness; happiness; soul; intellect

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