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Adamson, Avicenna and God’s knowledge of particulars

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Abstract

Allegedly, according to Avicenna’s theory of God’s knowledge of particulars, God knows particulars in a universal way or universally. But, it is controversial how we should interpret knowing in a universal way. It seems knowing in a universal way is a black-box in Avicenna’s theological context. However, Peter Adamson in his valuable ‘On Knowledge of Particulars’ has suggested a novel approach to decode this black-box in Avicenna’s theological context. According to Adamson, the key for this black-box is embedded in Avicenna’s epistemological context, i.e., Kitāb al-Burhān. It seems Adamson’s interpretation of Avicenna’s theory of God’s knowledge of particulars consists of two main steps. Firstly, on the basis of Kitāb al-Burhān, he tries to show that knowing in a universal way amounts to knowing syllogistically. For example, when, based on the syllogism “(I) all humans are animals, (II) Zayd is a human, and therefore (III) Zayd is an animal” one knows that ‘Zayd is an animal,’ one knows it universally. Secondly, on the basis of the first step, Adamson tries to show how we should interpret Avicenna’s theory. The upshot of Adamson’s interpretation is that God knows only essential features of particulars and not their accidental features. In this paper, I will argue that both steps in Adamson’s account of Avicenna’s theory of God’s knowledge of particulars face serious problems.

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Notes

  1. There are valuable secondary literature on Avicenna’s theory of God’s knowledge of particulars. For example, see: (Marmura, 1962), (Nusseibeh, 2009), (Acar, 2004), (Benevich, 2019), (Leaman, 2002, ch.3), (Kaukua, 2022), (Zadyousefi, 2019), (Zadyousefi, 2020) and (Zadyousefi, 2022), among others.

  2. (Adamson, 2005, p. 266).

  3. (Adamson, 2005, p. 274).

  4. (Adamson, 2005, p. 274).

  5. (Adamson, 2005, p. 275).

  6. See footnote 37 in (Adamson, 2005, p. 275).

  7. Avicenna (1984a, book II. ch. 8, p. 172).

  8. Avicenna (1984a, book II. ch. 8, p. 172).

  9. Avicenna (1984b, book VIII. ch. 6, p. 359).

  10. Avicenna (1984b, book VIII. ch. 6, p. 360).

  11. Avicenna (1984a, book II. ch. 8, pp. 170–171).

  12. Avicenna (1984a, book II. ch. 8, p. 173).

  13. See, for example, Avicenna (1984b, book VIII. ch. 6, p. 359) and Avicenna (1984b, book VIII. ch. 6, p. 360).

  14. Avicenna (1984a, book II. ch. 6, pp. 72–73).

  15. Avicenna (1984a, al-Shifāʾ: Kitāb al-Burhān book II. ch. 8, pp. 170–171). Emphasis mine.

  16. See footnote 33 in (Adamson, 2005).

  17. (Adamson, 2004, pp. 96–97).

  18. This text is Adamson’s translation, (Adamson, 2004, p. 93).

  19. Avicenna (1992, § 595, p. 198). This text is Adamson’s translation, (Adamson, 2004, p. 98).

  20. Avicenna (1992, § 600, p. 200). This text is Adamson’s translation, (Adamson, 2004, p. 98).

  21. (Adamson, 2004, p. 97).

  22. (Adamson, 2004, p. 97).

  23. This text is Adamson’s translation. See footnote 18 in (Adamson, 2004, p. 97).

  24. Avicenna (1984b, book VIII. ch. 7, pp. 362–363). The translation is from Marmura (2005, p. 291).

  25. Avicenna (1984c, p. 152).

  26. Avicenna (1984c, p. 125).

  27. Avicenna (1984c, p. 120).

  28. As we said, Adamson also believes that God through His causation for x knows that x exists. But, for the sake of simplicity, I have not included this in (22).

  29. Avicenna (1984b, book VIII. ch. 6, p. 359). This text is Adamson’s translation (Adamson, 2005, p. 274).

  30. Avicenna (1984b, book VIII. ch. 6, p. 359). Marmura’s translation, slightly modified, Marmura (2005, p. 287).

  31. Avicenna (1984b, book VIII. ch. 6, p. 359). Marmura’s translation, slightly modified, Marmura (2005, p. 287).

  32. Avicenna (1984c, pp. 66–67).

  33. Avicenna (1984b, book VIII. ch. 6, p. 360). Marmura’s translation, Marmura (2005, p. 288).

  34. Avicenna (1984b, book VIII. ch. 6, p. 360). Marmura’s translation, slightly modified, Marmura (2005, pp. 288–289).

  35. For Avicenna’s belief in God’s foreknowledge see: (Avicenna, 1993, Namaṭ VI. ch. 9, p. 131).

  36. Avicenna (1984c, p. 67).

  37. Avicenna (1984c, p. 118).

  38. al-Ghazālī (2000, pp. 136–137). Marmura’s translation, slightly modified.

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Davlat Dadikhuda and Michael Lessman for their helpful comments and discussion.

Funding

Research for this article is funded in part by a grant from the Iran National Science Foundation (INSF). Grant number: 98017627.

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  1. Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Humanities, Tarbiat Modares University (TMU), P.O. Box: 14115-139, Tehran, Iran

    Amirhossein Zadyousefi

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Zadyousefi, A. Adamson, Avicenna and God’s knowledge of particulars. Int J Philos Relig 94, 1–23 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11153-023-09869-y

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