Ibn Miskawayh

Ibn Miskawayh (Persian: ابن مسکویه) (Arabic: مسكويه) (Ahmad ibn Muhammad Miskawayh) (940–1030) was a famous Shia philosopher of Persian origin. Among Muslims he is known as the third teacher after Aristotle and al-Farabi, that is, the "Muallim Salis" (Third Teacher). He was born in the city of Rayy in Iran in 940 (320 AH). He combined an active political career with the role of philosopher. Miskawayh, who was also a historian, served the Buyid dynasty in the cities of Baghdad, Isfahan and Rayy. He was a member of an intellectual circle that included al-Sijistani. Miskawayh's role as a compiler had an influence on the emergence of the Neoplatonic tradition in the Islamic world. Ibn Miskawayh worked and wrote in many different fields, from history to psychology and from chemistry to metaphysics. By arguing that the Greek philosophers were concerned with tawhid (divine unity), Miskawayh kept his distance from the problem of reconciling religion and philosophy.

Life

Ibn Miskawayh, whose full name was Abu Ali Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Yaqub ibn Miskawayh, was born in the city of Rayy in Iran in 936. It has been suggested that he may have been born in 940 or 951.

Ibn Miskawayh completed his education in Rayy, the city of his birth, and received a good schooling. He studied under the famous scholars and teachers of his time. He exchanged knowledge with the leading philosophers of his age (such as Avicenna, al-Biruni and Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi). Ibn Miskawayh was especially greatly influenced by al-Farabi and became one of the important figures of the Peripatetic school. The Muslim philosophers spoke of evolution; the conception of evolution in their minds concerned a flow that occurs by the will of God. While so-called religious circles who do not sufficiently understand science and so-called scientific circles who do not sufficiently understand religion continue to argue ideologically with one another, one must respect all the intellectual products of humanity. Apart from philosophy, his principal field of interest, Ibn Miskawayh also occupied himself with chemistry for a long time and conducted various researches. None of his works in the field of chemistry have survived to the present day. Besides philosophy and chemistry, Ibn Miskawayh was also interested in medicine, literature, history, ethics and metaphysics, and wrote many works on these subjects. Drawing particular attention with his ethical system, Ibn Miskawayh came to hold a very important place in the field of ethics. Although he followed al-Farabi's method in his works, in general, contrary to al-Farabi, he gave precedence to practice over theory and approached pragmatism. Like the Peripatetic philosophers before him, he tried to reconcile the Islamic religion with the ideas of Plato and Aristotle.

Ibn Miskawayh worked as a secretary and librarian alongside the important figures of the period. He first served as librarian to the vizier Abu'l-Fadl Ibn al-Amid and began to gain fame and prestige. Later he held various posts at the court such as secretary, keeper of the private library, treasurer and tutor.

Principal Works

1. Ibn Miskawayh, Tahdhib al-Akhlaq wa Tathir al-A'raq, ed. Hasan Tamim, Beirut 1398, Egypt 1329;

English translation: The Refinement of Character, translated by Constant K. Zurayk;

French translation: Traité d'éthique, Muhammad Arkoun, Damascus 1969;

Turkish translation: Ahlâkı Olgunlaştırma, translated into Turkish by A. Şener, İsmet Kayaoğlu and Cihat Tunç, K.B.Y., Ankara, 1983.

2. Ibn Miskawayh, al-Fawz al-Asghar, ed. A.F. Fuad, Benghazi 1974, Salih Uzayma, Tunis 1987;

French translation: Le Petit Salut, translated into French by Roger Arnaldez;

English translation: Sweetman, Islam and Christian Theology, London, 1947

3. Ibn Miskawayh, al-Hawamil wa'l-Shawamil (together with Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi), ed. Ahmad Amin and Sayyid Ahmad Saqr, Cairo, 1370/1952.

4. Ibn Miskawayh, al-Hikma al-Khalida – Javidan-i Khirad, ed. Abdurrahman Badawi, Maktabat al-Nahda al-Misriyya, Cairo, 1952.

5. Ibn Miskawayh, Kitab al-Sa'ada, al-Maktaba al-Mahmudiyya, Egypt 1928.

6. Ibn Miskawayh, Risala fi Mahiyyat al-Adl, ed. Abdulaziz Izzat, Ibn Miskawayh: Falsafatuhu al-Akhlaqiyya wa Masadiruha, Cairo, 1946.

An Unpublished Treatise of Miskawaih on Justice, Leiden, 1964.

7. Ibn Miskawayh, Risala fi'l-Ladhdha wa'l-Alam fi Jawhar al-Nafs, Ragıp Paşa Library, no. 1463.

8. Ibn Miskawayh, Ajwiba wa As'ila fi'l-Nafs wa'l-Aql, ed. Abdurrahman Badawi, in Dirasat wa Nusus fi'l-Falsafa wa'l-Ulum inda'l-Arab, Beirut 1981.

Deux épîtres de Miskawayh, BEQ, LXVII, 1961–62, pp. 71–74.

9. Ibn Miskawayh, Kitab al-Aql wa'l-Ma'qul, ed. Muhammad Arkoun, "Miskawayh: De l'Intellect et de l'Intelligible", Arabica, XI, Leiden 1964, pp. 83–87.

Sources

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