Sixth Class (P. 117)

Abstract

In this Class, Ibn Sina talks about ends, their principles, and the arrangement of existence. He begins by investigating whether it is possible for the First Intellectual Principle and other exalted beings to seek something in things lower than they are. He denies the First this possibility on the ground that it is fully rich or completely independent in essence and disposition. He then argues that the resembled objects of the celestial bodies are things different in number and that the force moving the celestial sphere is noncorporeal, infinite, separate, and intellectual. He also explores the causation of celestial principles and bodies, the arrangement of existents, and the story of creation. Ibn Sina concludes with the assertion that the formation of our world is a necessary result of the last celestial intellectual substance or the agent intellect aided by the celestial bodies.