Necessary Existent

Necessary Existent

The Necessary Existent is part of some versions of the Ontological argument for the existence of God, an argument used particularly in Islamic and Christian religious traditions. Like the ontological argument itself, it is in the form of an a priori proof.

The theory of existence behind the necessary existent assumes that everything that exists does so because some previously existing thing moved it from having the potential to exist to actually existing. This leaves the question of how the prior entity came to exist, and so on. The necessary existent is simply the first entity in all subsequent chains of existence, the one thing that exists without being brought into being from mere potential.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Necessary Existent — (wajib al wujud)    See God; Ibn Sina …   Islamic philosophy dictionary

  • Avicennism — (PerB|فلسفه سینایی) is a school of early Islamic philosophy which began during the middle of the Islamic Golden Age. The school was founded by Avicenna (Ibn Sina), an 11th century Persian philosopher who attempted to redefine the course of… …   Wikipedia

  • PHILOSOPHY, JEWISH — This article is arranged according to the following outline: WHAT IS JEWISH PHILOSOPHY? recent histories of jewish philosophy biblical and rabbinic antecedents bible rabbinic literature hellenistic jewish philosophy philo of alexandria biblical… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Tawhid — This article is part of the series …   Wikipedia

  • Islamic metaphysics — refers to the study of metaphysics within Islamic philosophy.Early Islamic metaphysicsCosmological and ontological argumentsAvicenna s proof for the existence of God was the first ontological argument, which he proposed in the Metaphysics section …   Wikipedia

  • Early Islamic philosophy — or classical Islamic philosophy is a period of intense philosophical development beginning in the 2nd century AH of the Islamic calendar (early 9th century CE) and lasting until the 6th century AH (late 12th century CE). The period is known as… …   Wikipedia

  • Avicenna — Infobox Muslim scholars | notability = Persian scholar| era = Islamic golden age| color = #cef2e0 | | image caption = | | name = transl|ar|Abū ʿAlī al Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sīnā Balkhi (Avicenna)| title= Sharaf al Mulk, Hujjat al Haq, Sheikh… …   Wikipedia

  • metaphysics — (ma ba‘d al tabi‘a; ilahiyyat)    After a brief initial engagement with political issues, the kalam theologians quickly turned their focus upon the nature of God and His relation to creation. In order to address this issue properly, they were… …   Islamic philosophy dictionary

  • IBN DAUD, ABRAHAM BEN DAVID HALEVI — (known as Rabad I; c. 1110–1180), Spanish historian, philosopher, physician, and astronomer. Ibn Daud, the grandson of isaac b. baruch albalia , was born in Córdoba, and spent his formative years in the home of his maternal uncle, who was his… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Ibn Sina, Abu ‘Ali al-Husayn — (370–428/980–1037)    Born near Bukhara, Ibn Sina – or ‘Avicenna’, as he was known to the Latins – may very well be the most important and influential thinker, not just of the Neoplatonic Aristotelian (mashsha’i) school of Islamic philosophy in… …   Islamic philosophy dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”