Definition and the Subject of Metaphysics from Ibn Sina Point of View: A Study on the Influence of Farabi's Treatise of the Objectives of Metaphysics

Throughout the history of philosophy, Ibn Sina is the first philosopher who has propounded a discussion about the subject and definition of the science of metaphysics as an important metaphysical problem and has made it a prologue to the theology of Shifa. Ibn Sina’s view point on the subject and definition of metaphysics is strongly influenced by Abu Nasr Farabi’s enduring work named Treatise on the Objectives of Metaphysics. Speculation on the phrases of Farabi in this treatise indicates the degree of Farabi’s point of view influence in the case of mataphysics on the thought of Ibn Sina. To a certain extant it can be said that the general structure of the metaphysical system of Ibn Sina has been shaped on the basis of this treatise contents and as Ibn Sina confesses in his own autobiography, in metaphysics he owes much to this work of Farabi. Of course, despite abundant similarities between the two works, important difference can also be observed between them which shows the innovations and novelties of Ibn Sina in his discussion on the subject and definition metaphysics in comparison with Farabi’s discussions in his treatise on the objectives of Metaphysics.