Justice as Divine Order: A Comparative Analysis of Ibn Miskawayh and Thomas Aquinas

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Department of Moral Philosophy, University of Qom

2 Ph.D. in the Philosophy of Ethics, University of Qom

10.22080/jepr.2025.30425.1304

Abstract

In an era where theories of justice are often confined to secular and contractualist frameworks, re-examining classical perspectives is crucial for a more comprehensive understanding of this foundational virtue. Using an analytical-comparative method and emphasizing Majid Fakhry’s interpretation, this paper addresses the central question of how Ibn Miskawayh and Thomas Aquinas, despite their historical and theological differences, formulate the concept of “justice” as a reflection of a divine and cosmic order.
This research demonstrates that both thinkers perceive justice not as a product of human convention but as a manifestation of a transcendent reality. While Ibn Miskawayh, in Tahdhib al-Akhlaq, presents justice as arising from the harmony of the soul’s faculties and a reflection of the universal order, Aquinas, in the Summa Theologica, finds it in humanity’s rational participation in God’s eternal law, discoverable through natural law. This notable convergence stems from a shared Platonic-Aristotelian philosophical heritage transmitted to the Christian West via Muslim scholars.
Alongside this structural similarity, fundamental theological differences are revealed, including Ibn Miskawayh’s Neoplatonic, monistic approach linking justice to an existential union with the divine source, contrasted with Aquinas’s emphasis on the Creator-creature distinction and the necessity of divine grace for salvation.
Ultimately, this study shows that a comparative approach to Islamic and Christian traditions enables a multi-faceted formulation of justice, addressing its metaphysical, legal, and socio-political dimensions, thereby fostering a foundation for philosophical dialogue between diverse intellectual traditions.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

ابن مسکویه. احمد بن محمد. (1396). الرسائل و المکاتیب (ترتیب السعادات و منازل العلوم، مقاله فی النفس و العقل فی الذات و الالام، دفع الم من الموت مساله فی حد الظلم، رساله فی مائیه العدل .تحقیق ابوالقاسم امامی. تهران. موسسه نشر میراث مکتوب
 ابن مسکویه. احمد بن محمد. (1369). اخلاق و راه سعادت. ترجمه امین نصرت بیگم. تهران. فیض کاشانی
ابن مسکویه. احمد بن محمد. (1437ق/2016م). تهذیب الاخلاق. تحقیق سیدحسین مومنی. قم. پژوهشگاه علوم و فرهنگ اسلامی.
ابن مسکویه. احمد بن محمد . (1381) . تهذیب الاخلاق. ترجمه علی اصفر حلبی. انتشارات اساطیر
خواجه نصیرالدین طوسی، (1413ق)، اخلاق ناصری. تهران. علمیه اسلامیه
دوانی. جلال‌الدین. (1379). اخلاق جلالی. ترجمه عبدالله مسعودی آرانی. تهران: انتشارات اطلاعات
فارابی. ابونصر محمد. (1361). اندیشه اهل مدینه فاضله. ترجمه سید جعفر سجادی. تهران: کتابخانه طهوری.
کاظمی. بهرام اخوان. (1379). جایگاه عدالت در اندیشه سیاسی اسلام. تهران: دانشگاه تهران (رساله دکتری).
کنی، آنتونی. (1398). تاریخ فلسفه غرب جلد2. ترجمه رضا یعقوبی.تهران: بنگاه ترجمه و نشر کتاب پارسه.
محمدخانی مهدی. دهباشی مهد.  واعظی، سید حسین.)1395( بررسی و بازخوانی دیدگاه خواجه نصیر الدین طوسی درباره عدالت،پژوهش های اخلاقی سال هفتم پاییز 1395 شماره 1 (پیاپی 25)
 
Aquinas. S. T. (1947). Summa Theologiae. Trans. Fathers of the English Dominican Province. London: Burns Oates and Washbourne
Aristotle. (2014). Nicomachean Ethics. Trans. C. D. C. Reeve. Indiana: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.
Craig. Edward. (1998). Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Descartes to gender and science. London: Routledge
Fakhry. Majid. (1975). Justice in Islamic Philosophical Ethics: Miskawayh's Mediating Contribution. The Journal of Religious Ethics. Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Fakhry. Majid. (1994). Ethical theories in Islam. Leiden, E.J. Brill
Finnis. John. (1998). Aquinas: Moral, Political, and Legal Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Foucault Michel.(1970/1994) : The Order of Things: An Archaeology of the Human Sciences, London : Routledge
Gilligan. Carol. (2003). In a different voice: psychological theory and women's development Cambridge: Harvard University Press
Ibn Miskawaih, (1964), An unpublished treatise of Miskawaih on justice; or, Risāla fī māhiyat al-'adl. Edited with Notes, Annotations, English Translation and an Introduction by M. S. Khan. Leiden, E.J. Brill
MacIntyre, A. (1988). Whose justice? Which rationality. Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press Notre Dame.
Paffenroth, Kim, Doody John, Russell Helene Tallon (2017), Augustine and Kierkegaard, London: Lexington book
Plotinus, Enneads, )1967(, Ennead III, Translated by A. H. Armstrong. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge: MA: Harvard University Press
Thrasher, John J, (2013), Reconciling Justice and Pleasure in Epicurean Contractarianism. Springer. DOI:
              10.1007/s10677-012-9348-5
Epicurus (341—271 B.C.E.) ByTim O’Keefe, the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
ISSN 2161-0002,
           https://www.iep.utm.edu/epicur/#SH5e
 

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics