This paper aims to offer a new perspective on understanding human perfection through Ibn Sīnā’s philosophical framework which is seen as being able to correct the mistakes of western philosophers. It is known that Sigmund Freud and Thomas Hobbes understood human existence physically. As a result, the soul which is seen as the substance of human existence is seen as materialistic which can be measured materially to achieve perfection in reality. The implication is that human perfection is also seen as (...) partially. Partial perfection does not explain the value, dignity and happiness of humans universally, so the views of Sigmund Freud and Thomas Hobbes do not lead humans to holistic perfection, as human nature wants absolutes. In order to overcome the paradigm of Sigmund Freud and Thomas Hobbes, this paper explores human perfection according to Ibn Sīnā’s philosophy of the soul through one of his magnumopuses, entitled Mabda wa al-Ma’ad. By using a descriptive-philosophical method, the conclusion is that Ibn Sīnā examines the existence of the soul through a transcendental approach. According to Ibn Sīnā, the existence of the soul cannot be perceived through the senses. Conversely, the existence of the soul can be known through human awareness of correct knowledge, called ma’rifatal-Ḥaq to systematize various human behavior, called ma’rifat al-khair. Human understanding of ma’rifat al-Ḥaq and ma’rifat al-khair will guide him towards holistic perfection, both paradigmatically and behaviorally. (shrink)

Philosophy was at the core of the eighteenth century movement known as the Scottish Enlightenment. The movement included major figures, such as Francis Hutcheson, David Hume, Adam Smith, Thomas Reid and Adam Ferguson, and also many others who produced notable works, such as Gershom Carmichael, George Turnbull, George Campbell, James Beattie, Alexander Gerard, Henry Home (Lord Kames) and Dugald Stewart. I discuss some of the leading ideas of these thinkers, though paying less attention than I otherwise would to Hume, Smith (...) and Reid, who have separate Encyclopedia entries. Amongst the topics covered in this entry are aesthetics (particularly Hutcheson's), Moral philosophy (particularly Hutcheson's and Smith's), Turnbull's providential naturalism, Kames's doctrines on divine goodness and human freedom, Campbell's criticism of the Humean account of miracles, the philosophy of rhetoric, Ferguson's criticism of the idea of a state of nature, and finally the concept of conjectural history, a concept especially associated with Dugald Stewart. (shrink)