Abstract

Avicenna argues that the celestial spheres each have a soul, termed the motive soul, which is emanated by the first celestial intellect––a body of knowledge which knows itself. Despite outlining the powers of the motive soul, Avicenna does not formally investigate the psychology of the spheres nor their volition. Rather, he presents their volition as a mystery and leaves it to posterity to solve. In an attempt to resolve this mystery, I will argue that it is a direct result of Avicenna having purposefully written a repeated gap into his account of emanation such that there is no clear account of the generation of the material which composes the sphere of the heavens; after clarifying the account of emanation by demonstrating that the sphere has a direct connection to the emanating intellect, I will make the plausible argument that estimation has an intellectual volition insofar as it as it possesses a shared similarity with the practical intellect such that its volition is of the same species of volition: intellectual rather than psychological.

Thesis Completion

2023

Semester

Spring

Thesis Chair/Advisor

Zargar, Cyrus

Degree

Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)

College

College of Arts and Humanities

Department

Philosophy

Language

English

Access Status

Open Access

Release Date

5-15-2023

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Included in

Philosophy Commons

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