A Comparative Study of the Ethical Principles and Ideas of ‘Allāma Majlisī and Abū ‘Alī Miskawayh

Although ‘Allāma Majlisī did not intend to write an exclusive ethical book or propose a coherent ethical system in the various volumes of his book Biḥār al-Anwār, the analysis of the discussions he has made about the qur’ānic verses and traditions provides a comprehensive ethical doctrine. In addition to emphasizing on the role of rationality  in the explanation of theoretical and practical teachings of ethics, this doctrine pays special attention to the basic role of religion in the interpretation of spiritual foundations of conducts as well as the ethical and pedagogical aspects such that it gives in a complete and in-depth overview of the virtues and principles of Islamicethics. On the other hand, the philosophical and ethical ideas of Miskawayh are also so wise and sagacious of its kind. His attempts in shedding light on imaginative and confirmatory principles of ethics, creating coherence between philosophical teachings of Greek and Islamic ethics, and explicating the four classes of ethical virtues as well as their subcategories based on religious tenets are considered scholarly, valid, and thorough. This study focuses on a comparative survey of the ethical principles and ideas of ‘Allāma Majlisī in Biḥār al-Anwār and Abū ‘Alī Miskawayh in Tahdhīb al-Akhlāq. Then, by the analysis of these two ethical approaches, it is attempted to analyze their similarities and differences as well as their pros and cons in the clarification of Islamic ethics.