Ibn Sina's quote about Cause and Effect

Ibn Sina's quote about Knowledge

“The knowledge of anything, since all things have causes, is not acquired or complete unless it is known by its causes.”

— Ibn Sina

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Know Source and Context of this Quote :

The quote “The knowledge of anything, since all things have causes, is not acquired or complete unless it is known by its causes” is attributed to the Persian polymath Avicenna (Ibn Sīnā).

This statement reflects Avicenna's emphasis on causal reasoning in epistemology, aligning with Aristotelian philosophy, which heavily influenced his thought. The idea appears in his major works, particularly in ‘The Book of Healing’ (Kitāb al-Shifā’), specifically in the section on ‘Metaphysics’ (Ilāhiyyāt).

Avicenna argues that true understanding of an object or phenomenon requires knowledge of its causes—material, formal, efficient, and final—echoing Aristotle's four causes. This principle was foundational in medieval Islamic and later Scholastic philosophy.

The exact reference for this statement is found in Avicenna’s ‘Metaphysics’ (Ilāhiyyāt) of ‘The Book of Healing’ (‘Kitāb al-Shifā’), specifically in Book 1, Chapter 3.

Key Passage (Translated):

“The knowledge of a thing is not acquired or complete unless its causes are known, for we only have knowledge of a thing when we grasp its causes.”

(Avicenna, ‘The Metaphysics of The Healing’, 1.3, translated by Michael E. Marmura, 2005, p. 15)

Context:

Avicenna argues that ‘true scientific knowledge’ (‘ilm’) requires understanding the four causes (material, formal, efficient, and final), following Aristotle’s framework. He asserts that without knowing why something exists (its causes), one cannot claim full comprehension of it.

Where to Find It:

Arabic Source:

‘Kitāb al-Shifā’: Al-Ilāhiyyāt (Book of Healing: Metaphysics), 1.3 (on causality and principles of being).

English Translation:

‘The Metaphysics of The Healing’ (Brigham Young University Press, 2005), translated by Michael E. Marmura, p. 15 (or equivalent section in other editions).

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Avicenna (Ibn Sīnā) develops a sophisticated theory of causation that blends Aristotelian and Neoplatonic ideas, while also incorporating his own philosophical innovations. Below are key excerpts and commentary on his views regarding causality and knowledge:

1. Avicenna’s Four Causes (Expanding on Aristotle)

Avicenna adopts Aristotle’s four causes but adapts them within his metaphysics of ‘necessity’ and ‘contingency’:

Material Cause (al-‘illa al-māddiyya):

“The matter out of which a thing is composed.”

(e.g., bronze for a statue).

Formal Cause (al-‘illa al-ṣūriyya):

“The essence or quiddity (māhiyya) that makes a thing what it is.”

(e.g., the shape of the statue).

Efficient Cause (al-‘illa al-fā‘iliyya):

“The agent that brings the thing into being.”

(e.g., the sculptor).

Final Cause (al-‘illa al-ghā’iyya):

“The purpose for which the thing exists.”

(e.g., the statue’s function as art or commemoration).

Avicenna’s Twist:

He argues that in metaphysics, the Necessary Existent (God, Wājib al-Wujūd) is the uncaused cause of all contingent beings (mumkin al-wujūd). Unlike Aristotle’s Prime Mover, Avicenna’s God is both an efficient and final cause of the universe (Metaphysics, 8.3-7).

2. Key Passages on Causal Knowledge

A. From ‘The Book of Healing’ (Kitāb al-Shifā’), Metaphysics 1.3

“We do not say that we know a thing until we attain its four causes, for knowledge is the conceptualization (taṣawwur) of the thing and the affirmation (taṣdīq) of its causes.”

(Marmura trans., p. 15)

Commentary:

For Avicenna, mere observation (e.g., ‘fire burns’) is incomplete without knowing ‘why’ (e.g., fire’s efficient cause is its heat, and its final cause is to actualize combustible potential).

B. From ‘The Book of Salvation’ (Kitāb al-Najāt), Logic:

“Demonstration (burhān) yields certain knowledge only when it proceeds from necessary causes to their effects.”

Commentary:

Avicenna insists that ‘scientific certainty’ requires syllogisms based on causes (e.g., “All humans are mortal [final cause of their nature]; Socrates is human; therefore, Socrates is mortal”).

3. The Role of Causality in Avicenna’s Epistemology

Empirical vs. Rational Knowledge:

While senses perceive effects (e.g., smoke), intellect (‘aql’) deduces causes (e.g., fire). This aligns with his famous ‘Floating Man’ thought experiment (Book of Healing, Psychology 1.1), where even a disembodied mind could intuit its own existence—but full knowledge requires causal reasoning.

Critique of Occasionalism:

Avicenna rejects the Ash‘arite view that God directly causes every event without secondary causes. For him, nature operates through delegated causal powers (e.g., fire must burn by its nature, as God endowed it with this capacity).

4. Influence on Later Philosophy

Thomas Aquinas adapted Avicenna’s causal theory in his Five Ways (especially the argument from efficient causation).
Islamic Theology: Avicenna’s causal determinism was debated by al-Ghazālī (who critiqued it in ‘The Incoherence of the Philosophers’) and Ibn Rushd (who defended it in ‘The Incoherence of the Incoherence’).

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