Avicenna on the PSR and Causal Necessity in the Natural World

Bibliographic Data

ID20142794
AuthorsKara Richardson (0009-0000-0277-9650, Syracuse University College of Arts and Sciences Syracuse New York USA, corresponding author)
Year2025
Publication date2025-02-17
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueTheoria (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0040-5825 • E-ISSN: 1755-2567
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/theo.70000
OpenAlexW4407615214
LanguageEN
References cited18

Avicenna's account of causal necessity in the natural world is a key part of his metaphysical system and it is also historically significant. Yet, there is little scholarly discussion of the philosophical basis of his view. This is surprising not only because the topic is important, but also because the view is challenging to interpret. Scholars frequently locate Avicenna's main defense of causal necessity in Metaphysics I.6.6 of The Book of Healing . A few look to Metaphysics II.1 of The Book of Salvation , where he seems to liken causal necessity to logical necessity using the example of fire's power to burn a suitable patient. In this paper, I maintain that neither of these arguments provides a satisfactory defense of the claim that causes necessitate their effects, or the related claim that natural bodies function as necessitating causes. In this paper, I examine a different Avicennian path to these claims, spanning Metaphysics IV.1 and Physics I.13 of The Book of Healing , which I call ‘the argument from the PSR’. I maintain that, through this argument, Avicenna makes his best case for causal necessity in the natural world

Astrobiology · Natural (archaeology) · Physics · Families in Therapy and Culture · History · Islamic Thought and Society Studies · Medieval and Classical Philosophy · Philosophy

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