A Crazy Idea: Ibn Sīnā on Hylomorphism, the Elements, Mixture and Evolutionary Processes

ABSTRACT Ibn Sīnā (c. 973‐1037), the Avicenna of Latin fame, developed a unique theory of the elements and their status in mixtures that severely challenged the views of earlier natural philosophers and in its turn was severely challenged by later Latin Schoolmen in the West. At its core, Ibn Sīnā argues that the elemental forms remain actual, not merely potential, in mixtures. His elemental theory profoundly affected his own understanding of hylomorphic composition, has ramifications on his theory of essentialism and even limits empirical methods to investigating only the material conditions and not the essences of things. In this study, I present the background to Ibn Sīnā's new theory of the elements and mixtures together with its implications for hylomorphism, Avicennan essentialism and the limitations on empirical investigation. I conclude with a ‘crazy idea.’ The idea is that Ibn Sīnā's brand of hylomorphism and essentialism can accommodate the Theory of Evolution in ways that other accounts of essentialism have trouble doing. Specifically, I conclude with three critiques of essentialism found among contemporary philosophers of biology and argue that Ibn Sīnā provides the resources to handle these critiques in relatively natural ways.