Negation of Necessity and Necessity of Negation in the Universally Negative Conditional

There is a disagreement between Ibn Sina and Khādjeh Nasir in analyzing universally negative conditionals. Ibn Sina considers them as "negation of necessity", while the latter thinks of them in terms of "necessity of negation". Khādjeh Nasīr emphasizes the difference between the two positions, and deems the former more general than the other one, but Quṭb Rāzi claims that, according to Ibn Sina's works, they are equal, despite their difference in meaning. The author in this article tries to show first, in the discussion between Khādjeh and Rāzi, Khādjeh Nasīr is right; second, by reformulating Ibn Sina's arguments, one can realize an important formal flaw in his analysis; third, Ibn Sina's answers to this flaw are not acceptable; forth, one may find another answer to this problem by the help of Ibn Sina's analysis, but it also falls short of resolving the issue. Therefore, the question remains open for further endeavors.