ابن‌مسكويه و تكامل انواع

Ibn Miskaway and the Evolution of Species

احمد بن محمد رازي معروف به ابن‌مسكويه، فيلسوف، مورخ، پزشك و اديب پرآوازه قرن پنجم اواخر عمر خود را در اصفهان زيست و در همين شهر نيز چشم از جهان فرو‌بست. انديشه‌هاي مربوط به حكمت نظري او در كتاب الفوز الاصغر و انديشه‌هاي مربوط به حكمت عملي او در كتاب تهذيب‌الاخلاق گرد آمده است. يكي از آرا فلسفي ابن‌مسكويه، باور به اتصال و پيوند ارگانيك بين موجودات طبيعي جهان است. وي، عالَم جسماني را همچون عالم روحاني تو در تو و داراي مراتبي، محيط بر يكديگر و متصل به هم ميداند و نقشه‌‌يي جامع براي آن ترسيم ميكند. بنظر او حركت هر متحركي، گويي هوشمندانه در حركت بسمت تماميت خويش و بسوي آن چيزي است كه موافق كمال اوست. اين حركت، شوقي است و در آن عاشق، معلول معشوق خود است. بنظر وي براي مشخص كردن مراحل تكامل انبيا ضروري است كه چگونگي اتصال موجودات به يكديگر روشن شود. ابن‌مسكويه معتقد است كه خدا به حكمت و تدبير متقن خود، هر نوع را به اصناف و گونه‌هاي مختلف تقسيم كرده است و ميان گونه‌ها ترتيب طولي برقرار نموده است بنحوي كه هريك از آنها نسبت به ديگري كاملتر است تا جايي كه نوبت به آخرين گونه از آخرين نوع ميرسد. در اينجاست كه آخر اين نوع متصل به اول نوع بعدي ميشود و با طي مراحل و مراتب مختلف در اين مسير، گياه، حيوان و حيوان، انسان ميشود. از منظر ابن‌مسكويه، انسان پس از طي كردن مراتب كمال ‌زيستي تكامل معنوي مييابد و سرانجام به آخرين مرتبه كمال انساني كه نبوت است، ميرسد و نبي نيز در همين دنيا به مجاورت و افق نوع بعد كه عقل يا ملك است، ارتقا مييابد. با توجه به وضعيت علوم تجربي در زمان ابن‌مسكويه و مكتب فلسفي غالب در آن زمان، بنظر ميرسد كه منظومه فكري وي جوابگوي تبيين فلسفي نظريه تكامل نبوده، چون فلسفه هنوز ظرفيت كافي براي تبيين اينگونه مسايل را نداشته است. نظر به اينكه اين ديدگاه را قبل از او اخوان‌الصفا و همعصر او انديشمنداني چون ابوريحان بيروني و ابن‌سينا با فراز و فرودي متفاوت مطرح كرده‌اند، اما اين انديشه‌هاي ابن‌مسكويه بود كه به متفكران بعدي چون ملاصدرا منتقل شد تا بتواند آن را تبيين فلسفي نمايد. شايد اگر ابن‌مسكويه نيز مباني فلسفي و هندسه فكري ملاصدرا را ميداشت، ميتوانست بنحو شايسته‌‌يي نظريه تكامل زيست‌شناسان را تبيين فلسفي نمايد.

Ahmad Ibn Muhammed Razi known as Ibn Miskaway, the famous philosopher, historian, physician, and literary man of the fifth century, lived in Isfahan during the last years of his life. He passed away in the same city. His ideas regarding theoretical wisdom are gathered in his al-Fawz al-asghar, and those related to his practical wisdom are recorded in the book Tahdhib al-akhlaq. One of Ibn Miskaway’s philosophical ideas is rooted in his belief in the organic connection and unity among the natural existents of the world. He views the corporeal worlds, similar to the spiritual world, as a labyrinth with certain grades that encompass each other and are connected to each other. In fact, he draws a comprehensive map of all these grades. In his view, it seems as if the movement of each moving thing is intelligently directed towards its own totality and everything that agrees with its perfection. This motion is rooted in enthusiasm, in which the lover is the effect of its beloved. He believes that, in order to specify the stages of the prophets’ evolution, it is necessary to clarify the quality of the connection of existents to each other. He argues that God has divided each species into different groups and types through His certain wisdom and prudence. He has also established a vertical order among species so that each is more perfect comparing to the previous one until we come to the last type of the last species. It is at this point that the end of this species is connected to the beginning of the next species. By going through the various stages and levels in this direction, vegetation becomes animal, and animal turns into human being. According to Miskaway, after traversing the levels of biological perfection, man attains spiritual perfection and finally reaches the last level of human perfection, which is prophethood. The prophet, too, is promoted to the level of the next species, which is the intellect or angel. Given the situation of empirical sciences in Ibn Miskaway’s time and the prevailing philosophical school of that time, it seems that his philosophical system was not capable to clarify the theory of perfection from a philosophical standpoint. This was because philosophy did not have the required capacity for explaining such problems yet. This view had been posed before him by Ikhwan al-Safa and also by some of his contemporary thinkers such as Aburayhan Biruni and Ibn Sina with some changes. However, it was Ibn Miskaway’s thoughts that were transferred to later thinkers such as Mulla Sadra, so that he would be able to clarify it philosophically. Perhaps, if Ibn Miskaway had shared the same philosophical principles of Mulla Sadra, he would have been able to explain biologists’ theory of evolution from a philosophical point of view.