Teaching Ibn Sina's Proof for God's Existence

• Main Author: Sta. Maria, Joseph Emmanuel D.
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2024
• Subjects: Ibn Sina; Proof of God's Existence; Philosophy of Religion; Islamic Philosophy
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/budhi/vol26/iss1/6; https://archium.ateneo.edu/context/budhi/article/1530/viewcontent/BUA870_1.PDF
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

These notes provide a summary of Ibn Sina’s proof of God’s existence as a way of promoting the use of such proof in online philosophy classes, particularly, Philosophy of Religion. Ibn Sina’s proof has advantages over its more traditional counterparts taught in Philosophy of Religion, such as Anselm’s ontological argument and Aquinas’s cosmological one. First, it can be taught more quickly than the latter two because it is stated explicitly (unlike Anselm’s in his Proslogion) and it is only one argument (unlike Aquinas’ Quinque Viae). Second, it can give students a greater appreciation of religions besides Christianity, because it is contextualized in the Islamic faith. Third, an idea that the proof alludes to resonates with Buddhism’s “Dependent Co-Arising.” Fourth, Ibn Sina’s proof, which attempts to argue how God must be numerically one and simple, but does not discuss why God must be good, can be a jumping-off point for discussing God’s relation with moral goodness and evil. and ultimately to the problem of evil.