Avicenna and Ghazali on aesthetic pleasure

The position, goal, and purpose of a person within the realm of existence always constitute the content of a philosophical investigation. The distance between the absolute perfection of God and the limitations, needs, and deficiencies of humans has fundamentally been the subject of these investigations. In this context, especially within Islamic thought, the goal of resembling God in actions and moral character, and becoming moral like Him, is the fundamental reason for human existence. In this sense, every inclination of humans towards God also means their perfection. God, who is absolutely perfect and complete in every way, is the desired state of the entire realm of existence. This interaction between God and humans signifies perfection and maturity for humans. The resulting maturity and perfection manifest in humans as completeness and perfection. This can also be considered as a sign of aesthetic beauty and integrity. The harmony arising from the unity of aesthetic beauty and integrity has manifested itself as pleasure at various levels. Whether it is biological/material competence or spiritual competence, the desire and love have merged in humans' journey towards God, resulting in a complete and mature human figure. Our study is about the exploration of a journey from the limited possibilities of humans towards the infinite perfection of God through the concepts of love, desire, aesthetics, and pleasure. In this context, our study consists of two parts. The first part discusses the concept of pleasure within a philosophical framework based on metaphysical concepts such as perfection, necessity, possibility, potentiality, completeness, absolute and pure goodness, pure beauty, aesthetic love, and desire in the thought world of Ibn Sînâ, one of the pinnacle figures of Islamic philosophy. In this framework, Ibn Sînâ's understanding of existence, division of existence, and ontological and epistemological varieties of transcendence at every level of existence have been examined. In the second part, the concept of pleasure is discussed within the framework of taste, knowledge, love, and spirituality by an important thinker of Islamic thought, Al-Ghazali.