Avicennian Epistemological Principles and Their Application in Proving God

Analyzing whatness and conditions of knowledge realization includes ancient questions in logic, metaphysics, epistemology and philosophy of science. In Avicennian ideology, the identity of “knowledge” is merely rational and certain knowledge which demands acquisition. Avicenna does not agree with background and innate knowledge and for him, the foundation of the certain knowledge in two fields of apprehension and judgment is originally based upon the most fundamental units of knowledge. He believes that in the process of acquiring certain knowledge, “belief” is the first factor having psychological identity which is changed into an objective certainty within specific conditions and proof is made by a useful reasoning of certain knowledge. In Avicennian thought, experience is the product of rational deduction and sensory induction. A certain and general knowledge would not be achieved from incomplete sensory induction and it has only a preparatory function. However, experience which is different with induction creates certain and general knowledge. In his philosophical works and by using logical principles and argumentative induction method, Avicenna has dealt with proving God as a theoretical and nontrivial issue. Application of Avicenna’s epistemological principles in proof of God appears to be, to some extent, in conflict and the origin of some controversies in this regard that their compatibility is explainable by a general and comprehensive look upon his epistemological system.