Ontology of ‘Good’ness and Evil in Avicenna

A philosophical investigation focusing on the nature of goodness and evil constitutes one of the most abstract areas of discussion of philosophical thought. This study, aims to maintain a discussion on the ontological dimensions of goodness and evil, in other words, the metaphysical basis of goodness and evil based on the Avicenna example, rather than a discussion of it that can be associated with the moral actions of human. As one of the most competent representatives of the philosophical thinking in the Islamic cultural basin, Avicenna, taking into account a more encompassing perspective, considers the problem of goodness and evil within the framework of the metaphysical discipline, where mental abstraction is at the highest level. In this respect, Avicenna discusses the problem of goodness and evil in terms of God-universe relationship and he identifies the good with God, and brings along the notion of evil and absence. Thus, while Avicenna appoints an ontic response to goodness, he deals with evil within the framework of the concept of absence. Avicenna, who is conducting an investigation of goodness and evil on the axis of existence and absence, is also interested in how goodness and evil are manifested in the human plane and how it is perceived. One of the goals of the present study is to trace perspectives of Avicenna’s discussion on goodness and evil. As known Avicenna is the systematic name of Peripateticism in the Islamic Philosophy. In addition to an Aristotelian perspective, which philosophical school or thought tradition had an impact on his thoughts on this matter.