In the beginning of the Fourth Class: On Existence and Its Causes in Avicenna’s Remarks and Admonitions, a collection of considerations on many topics. The Fourth Class engages in Metaphysics, investigating the nature of that which can exist and trying to bring logical proof for the necessary existence of a god. He begins the Fourth Class by addressing popular beliefs of existence. Avicenna identifies existents that can exist without being sensible. One of these are concepts such as “human being” a category that all humans belong to, is not sensible but rather only intelligible.
It seems that Avicenna wants to aim for a regressive system of existence. Something needs to exist to will something else into existence. This seems to lead to an infinite regress that Avicenna seems to want to end with a god figure.
I would think that, for concepts to be existent, they would have to be a priori truth. A concept like family may include everyone you’re related to but there are different things to be understood when someone says: “I am meeting my family later.” The listener does not know who belongs to that concept family, or who someone identifies as his family. In Chapter 6 Avicenna makes this clear at the example of a triangle, that is there in essence but is not existing to an observer who doesn’t know the concept of a triangle. So, the essence of the concept of “human being” is being human, but can we know who we can identify as “human being” until we have identified all human beings and made sure that there are no exceptions to the rule?
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