Alaee Encyclopedia (logic and first philosophy)

The book “Alaee Encyclopedia” is the most celebrated and the most comprehensive work of the outstanding philosopher “Avicenna”
 on different kinds of theosophy.  

It is written in Persian, including logic, theology, natural sciences and mathematics.

The book is written to “Abu Jafar Muhammad Ibn kakouyeh”.

The author

Avicenna, one of the greatest Muslim scientists and philosophers, known in the East as Abu Ali Sina and also Ibn Sina (980 – 1037).
He was born near Bukhara, probably with Persian as his native language.
At the age of eighteen he had mastered all the then known sciences. After the death of his father, an official of the Samanid adminstration, and the overthrow of the Samanids by the Ilekhans in 1005, he first wandered through Persia and then, from 1021 until shortly before his death, he lived at Isfahan as court physician of the Buyid rulers Shams al-Dawla and Sama al-Dawla, who by then had come under Kakuid suzerainty.

He is known primarily as a philosopher and physician, Avicenna contributed also to all the sciences that were accessible in his day: natural history, physics, chemistry, astronomy, mathematics and music. He studied mathematics under “Abu Abdullah Natli”, then continued metaphysics, physics and medicine in the presence of “Abu Soheyl Masihi”.
 He wrote on economics, politics, moral and religious questions, Quranic exegesis and poetry.
In 1654, 131 authentic and 110 doubtful works were listed in his bibliography.
The following are his most famous works:

1-    Book of Healing ‘of the soul’ (a vast philosophical and scientific encyclopeida)
2-    The Canon of Medicine (one of the most famous books in the history of medicine)
3-    The Tale of Hayy Ibn Yaqzan (a philosophical allegory)

Avicenna’s influence on medieval European philosophers such as Michael Scot,  Albertus Magnus,  Rager Bacon,  Duns Scotus and Thomas Aquinas is undeniable.

He died as the result of colic, in Hamedan – Iran where a monument was erected to celebrate the millennium of his birth.

The book structure

This prominent work includes the following subjects:

The section “logic”:

Division of knowledge into “concept” and “certification”
 (Tasavor”and “Tasdiq”)

Why science needs logic? the advantage of logic , the beginning of logic, the single and compound word, the partial and general word, substance  and  accident , genus  sort  and  differential ( Fasl) ,
 the general accident ( Araz-e aam) , the difference between “ antecedent” and “ consequent” definition of “ proposition” (Qaziyeh) , on definition (Had), inductive  reasoning (Isteqra) , etc.

The section theology

The beginning of theology (divinity) , divisions of   sciences,
 the  subjects of theoretical sciences , different kinds of essence, different kinds of  accident , on the quality of possible  - existent, etc.

Sources

Keywords