Decoding the Issue of Union of Intelligent and Intelligible in Avicenna’s philosophy

In his works, Avicenna frequently refers to the unity theory; however, his real views toward this issue are not clear, as he argues both for and against this theory. On the one hand, he is well known as someone who has rejected the unity theory and on the other hand he has been identified as someone who departed from his original views and adopted the unity theory. Avicenna’s inconsistent views have created ambiguities which are the focus of the present paper. The aim is to resolve the issue with reference to his views as expressed in his different works. An attempt is made to explain his views providing evidence from his texts. The conclusion is that Avicenna’s views with regard to the unity theory are not indeed inconsistent. In fact, he has been consistent in arguing for the unity of intelligent and intelligible.