Human perfection İbn Miskeveyh and Ibn Bacce

This study examines the concept of human perfection (kamāl al-insān), a central notion in the Islamic philosophical tradition, through a multifaceted analysis of two leading representatives of the Peripatetic (mashshāʾī) school: Ibn Miskawayh (d. 421/1030) and Ibn Bājja (d. 533/1139). In this thesis, the process of perfection (takammul) is not limited to individual moral development; rather, it is systematically addressed within ontological, epistemological, ethical, and social dimensions. In Ibn Miskawayh's thought, human perfection is conceived as a process realized within society through the cultivation of rational faculties and the acquisition of virtues. According to him, man is by nature a madanī (sociopolitical) being, and the perfection of the soul (kamāl al-nafs) can only be attained through just relationships among individuals within a virtuous political order. In this context, happiness (saʿāda) emerges from the integration of individual perfection with social harmony. Ibn Bājja, by contrast, formulates a distinctive model in which the individual may preserve and realize his perfection despite a corrupt society. In his treatise Tadbīr al-Mutawaḥḥid, he proposes the concept of the mutawaḥḥid—the solitary individual—arguing that intellectual and spiritual perfection is achievable even in the absence of a virtuous community. The individual's withdrawal from a morally degenerate society and pursuit of conjunction (ittiṣāl) with the Active Intellect (al-ʿaql al-faʿʿāl) constitutes the core of Ibn Bājja's perfection strategy. This model represents a unique departure from the dominant political emphasis of the classical Peripatetic tradition. In conclusion, this study offers a comparative analysis of the idea of human perfection within the philosophical frameworks of Ibn Miskawayh and Ibn Bājja, highlighting in particular the originality of Ibn Bājja's individual-centered approach as a distinctive contribution to the history of Islamic philosophy.