“Attribution of Existence to Essence”: Its Role in Avicennian Theology

Abstract

The theory of “attribution of existence to essence” is the most important metaphysical foundation used by Avicenna for forming a new philosophical system and transition from Greek philosophy and rethinking two important philosophical issues: “modality” and “causality”. It seems that many components of Avicennian theology is based, whether directly or not, on this theory. For example, Avicenna’s siddīqīn argument for the existence of God is the ultimate result of all Avicenna’s deliberations about “attribution of existence to essence”, “modality” and “causality”. This theory has also been used, at times directly and at other times indirectly, for proving God’s oneness and His other attributes. In this article, we will try to show the role the theory of “attribution of existence to essence” plays in Avicenna’s philosophy trough a systematic study. We will also try to review differences between Avicenna’s philosophy and Greek philosophy and the role of the aforementioned theory in these differentiations.

Keywords

• attribution of existence to essence
• avicenna
• theology