Quotation
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“The necessary existent is that which, when it is assumed not to exist, an absurdity results. The possible existent is that which, when it is assumed either to exist or not to exist, no absurdity results.”
Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna) · Islamic Aristotelianism · Medieval · c. 1020s; Marmura's English 2005
What does it mean?
The mainstream reading is a modal definition. The necessary existent is the thing whose non-existence would be absurd. The possible existent is the thing that can be thought either way without absurdity. A competing reading hears a proof of God already finished in the definition, which this pair of sentences is not. They sort existents. The argument that there must be a necessary existent comes with the further claim that the possible, if it exists, needs a cause. The sentences are in Book I, chapter 6, of the Metaphysics of the Healing, in Marmura's English. They are not the Canon, and they are not the floating man, which is a psychological thought experiment about self-awareness. Necessity here is about existence, not about a healthy body. The badge says translation because the Arabic is the source.
Did Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna) really say this?
The library’s label is Paraphrase or translation. The distinction that opens the discussion of the necessary existent in Book I, chapter 6, of the Metaphysics of the Healing. The English follows Marmura. It is a translation of an argument, not a motto, and it is not the floating man.
Where it comes from
The Metaphysics of the Healing, Book I, chapter 6, following Michael E. Marmura's translation
Approximate date: c. 1020s; Marmura's English 2005.
How to use it
A plan that calls a particular budget 'necessary' usually means urgent, not absurd-if-absent. His distinction is stricter. Almost every institutional arrangement is, in his sense, possible: it could have been otherwise without contradiction. Reserve the strong word for the claim you are actually willing to make, which in ordinary meetings is rarely his claim.
A mindset reading
Possible, in this chapter, is not a shrug. It is the status of a thing that depends. The habit is to ask whether you are describing dependence or merely expressing a preference. The definition will not settle the preference. It will stop the word necessary from covering both.
Understand the philosophy
Book I, chapter 6, of the Metaphysics of the Healing draws this distinction, and Marmura's translation is the English followed here. The key pair is necessary and possible existence. The Canon cards are medical. The floating man is the psychology. This card is the metaphysical definition those other works are often confused with. The full proof is the rest of the chapter, not these two sentences alone.
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FAQ
What does it mean?
The mainstream reading is a modal definition. The necessary existent is the thing whose non-existence would be absurd. The possible existent is the thing that can be thought either way without absurdity. A competing reading hears a proof of God already finished in the definition, which this pair of sentences is not. They sort existents. The argument that there must be a necessary existent comes with the further claim that the possible, if it exists, needs a cause. The sentences are in Book I, chapter 6, of the Metaphysics of the Healing, in Marmura's English. They are not the Canon, and they are not the floating man, which is a psychological thought experiment about self-awareness. Necessity here is about existence, not about a healthy body. The badge says translation because the Arabic is the source.
Did Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna) really say this?
Paraphrase or translation. The distinction that opens the discussion of the necessary existent in Book I, chapter 6, of the Metaphysics of the Healing. The English follows Marmura. It is a translation of an argument, not a motto, and it is not the floating man.
Which work is it in?
The Metaphysics of the Healing, Book I, chapter 6, following Michael E. Marmura's translation Approximate date: c. 1020s; Marmura's English 2005.