Expanding the Boundaries of Nature: Foretelling the Future Among Avicennian Physics, Psychology, and Metaphysics

Abstract

This study examines Ibn Sin & amacr;'s (Avicennian) approach to the concept of foreknowledge, or prophecy in the context of physics, psychology, and metaphysics. Before Ibn Sin & amacr;, thinkers generally divided prophecy into two categories: natural and artificial. This study argues that a similar distinction can be found in Ibn Sin & amacr;'s thought. According to this view, artificial prophecy involves acquiring knowledge of the future through celestial bodies by means of instruments or symbols. Similar to earlier thinkers, Ibn Sin & amacr; disapproved of this practice, linking it to astrologers and soothsayers. In contrast, natural prophecy -regarded by thinkers such as al-F & amacr;r & amacr;bi and Ibn Sin & amacr; as part of prophethood- refers to the acquisition of future knowledge through communication with celestial souls. Ibn Sin & amacr; asserts that the process of knowing the future, or minor prophecy, occurs not through a supernatural gift but through a natural and explainable mechanism. Unlike al-F & amacr;r & amacr;bi, Ibn Sin & amacr; explains this mechanism by appealing to celestial souls and the human practical intellect. According to Ibn Sin & amacr;, knowledge of the future is obtained not via the Active Intellect but through celestial souls, and not through the imaginative faculty (mutakhayyila), but by the practical intellect (`aql `amali) of the human being. Internal senses such as imagination and estimation (wahm) either hinder or assist in the processing of this knowledge. Their positive or negative contribution affects both the accuracy of the knowledge and how it is expressed.