The Problem of the Other and the Ethics of Interaction with the Surrounding Nature from the Perspective of Muslim Philosophers (With a Focus on the Views of Avicenna and Mullā Ṣadrā)

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1 Assistant Professor, Department of Islamic Philosophy and Theology, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran.

2 Assistant Professor, Dept. of Islamic Philosophy and Theology, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran.

10.22080/jepr.2026.30545.1307

Abstract

In contemporary modes of life characterized by excessive self-centeredness the problem of the Other has emerged as a significant challenge. Meanwhile, Islamic philosophical foundations contain insights that can offer guidance in this regard. The present study investigates how, from the viewpoint of Islamic philosophers (with an emphasis on the thought of Ibn Sīnā and Mullā Ṣadrā), the problem of the Other is conceptualized and what its essential components are. It also examines, based on these extracted components, what ethical approaches can be proposed for interacting with the surrounding natural world—the “non-human Other.”
Through an examination of the works of these philosophers, three essential components of the problem of the Other from the standpoint of major Islamic thinkers can be identified:1- The unavoidable intertwinement of individual and social felicity with the problem of the Other; 2- The concomitance of existence and cognition, and the expansion of the referents of the “cognizant Other”; 3- The articulation of the problem of the Other within a theological worldview grounded in a purposive, God-centered (rather than self-centered) cosmos. Building upon these components, several ethical approaches to human interaction with the surrounding environment rooted in the philosophical perspective on the problem of the Other are derived. These include: a) The manifestation of individual and social felicity through constructive engagement with the natural environment; b) An environmental ethic founded on expanding the scope of the “cognizant Other”; c) The moral inadmissibility of unrestrained exploitation and the necessity of distributive justice in sharing natural resources and benefits.

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