Philosophical Thought

Compatibility of the "Meaning in Suffering" Theory with the Problem of Evil between Viktor Frankl and Avicenna

Document Type : Original Research

Authors

M. Zabihi
A.H. Zargar

Department of Islamic Philosophy and Theology, Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, Qom University, Qom, Iran

Abstract
This research examines the relationship between suffering, freedom, and happiness in Avicenna’s philosophy and Frankl's existential logotherapy, focusing on the possibility of an ontological formulation of “meaning in suffering.” In the analysis of Avicenna’s philosophy, evil is explained as the privation of the perfection proper to the essence of contingent beings, and suffering is introduced as the soul’s perception of this privation; through the argument for the corporeality of the imaginative faculty, it is then analyzed within the soul’s perfective movement from potentiality to actuality. Next, on the basis of Frankl’s theory of the will to meaning, existential situational suffering is considered in terms of the possibility of attitudinal choice and responsibility. The result of the research shows that the possibility of meaning in suffering rests on the structure of possibility and the soul’s inherent directedness toward happiness; that is to say, the perception of deficiency, when accompanied by conscious choice, can be placed on the path of the soul’s perfection and the realization of happiness. Hence, Frankl’s conception of meaning in suffering always possesses an ontological capacity that draws on the latent possibilities within Avicenna’s philosophical system.

Keywords

Avicenna
Suffering
Evil
Frankl
Imaginative Faculty
Logotherapy
Subjects
- Bahmanyar IM (1996). AL-TAHSIL. Motahhari M, editor. 2nd ed. Tehran: University of Tehran Press. [Arabic]
- Frankl V (1984). Man’s search for meaning: Newly revised and enlarged edition. New York: Simon & Schuster.
- Frankl V (2018a). The will to meaning. Parsai K, translator. Tehran: TAMMADON-E ELMI. [Persian]
- Frankl V (2018b). Man’s search for meaning. Parsai K, translator. Tehran: TAMMADON-E ELMI. [Persian]
- Haeri Yazdi M (1982). The hierarchy of being. Tehran: Institute for Cultural Studies and Research; Iranian Association of Philosophy and Wisdom. [Persian]
- Hassan-Zadeh Amoli H (2012). SHARH AL-ISHARAT WA AL-TANBIHAT. Qom: AYAT ESHRAQ. [Persian]
- Hebb DO (1996). Textbook of psychology. Ghahramani J, Ganji H, translators. Tehran: Roshd. [Persian]
- Ibn Sina (1952). AL-NAFS MIN KITAB AL-SHIFA. Tehran: ANJOMAN-E ASAR-E MELLI. [Persian]
- Ibn Sina (1984a). AL-SHIFA: AL-ILAHIYYAT. Madkour E, editor. Qanawati J, Zayed S, researchers. Qom: Ayatollah Mar‘ashi Najafi Library Publications. [Arabic]
- Ibn Sina (1984b). AL-TA‘LIQAT. Qom: MAKTABAT AL-I‘LAM AL-ISLAMI. [Arabic]
- Ibn Sina (1984c). AL-SHIFA (AL-TABI‘IYYAT). Zayed S, editor. Qom: Ayatollah Mar‘ashi Najafi Library. [Arabic]
- Ibn Sina (1984d). AL-MABDA’ WA AL-MA‘AD. Nourani A, editor. Tehran: Institute of Islamic Studies, University of Tehran. [Arabic]
- Ibn Sina (1985). Translation of RISALAT ADHABIHA. Khadiwjam H, editor. Tehran: ETTELA‘AT. [Persian]
- Ibn Sina (1987). TIS‘ RASA’IL FI AL-HIKMAH WA AL-TABI‘IYYAT. Cairo: DAR AL-‘ARAB. [Arabic]
- Ibn Sina (1997). ILAHIYYAT MIN KITAB AL-SHIFA. Hassan-Zadeh Amoli H, editor. Qom: DAFTAR TABLIGHAT-E ESLAMI. [Arabic]
- Ibn Sina (2000). AL-NAJAH MIN AL-GHARQ FI BAHR AL-DALALAT. Daneshpajouh MT, editor. Tehran: University of Tehran Press. [Persian]
- Ibn Sina (2002). AL-ISHARAT WA AL-TANBIHAT. Zarei M, editor. Qom: BUSTAN-E KETAB. [Arabic]
- Ibn Sina (2004). RISALAT AL-NAFS. Amid M, editor. Hamedan: Bu-Ali Sina University. [Persian]
- Ibn Sina (2008a). AL-SHIFA. Hassan-Zadeh Amoli H, editor. Qom: BUSTAN-E KETAB Publications. [Persian]
- Ibn Sina (2008b). AL-ISHARAT WA AL-TANBIHAT. Malekshahi H, editor. Tehran: Soroush Publications. [Persian]
- Ibn Sina (2008c). NAFS AL-SHIFA. Naeiji MH, translator and commentator. Qom: Imam Khomeini Institute. [Persian]
- Ibn Sina (2009). RISALAH AL-‘ARSHIYYAH. Shahabi M, Dari ZD, Fooladvand MM, translators. Taheri M, editor. Qom: AYAT ESHRAQ Publications. [Persian]
- Ibn Sina (2012). BURHAN AL-SHIFA. Ghavam Safari M, translator. Tehran: Research Institute for Culture and Islamic Thought. [Persian]
- Ibn Sina (2014). AL-ISHARAT WA AL-TANBIHAT (Volume 3). Tusi NAD, Razi QAD, commentators. Qom: NASHR AL-BALAGHAH. [Arabic]
- Ibn Sina (n.d.a). RISALAT SIRR AL-QADAR. In: Collected treatises. Badawi AR, translator. Unknown City: Unknown Publisher. [Persian]
- Ibn Sina (n.d.b). UYŪN AL-HIKMAH. Qom: Bidar. [Persian]
- Kalnberger J (2005). Kierkegaard and Nietzsche: Faith and acceptance. Sohrab A, Attari E, translators. Tehran: Negah. [Persian]
- Mohammadpour Yazdi A (2006). Viktor Emil Frankl, the founder of logotherapy. 1st edition. Tehran: Danjeh Publishing. [Persian]
- Motahari M (2015). Collected works: Human being and destiny. Tehran: Sadra. [Persian]
- Nietzsche F (2000). Beyond good and evil: Prelude to a philosophy of the future. Ashouri D, translator. Tehran: Khwarazmi. [Persian]
- Qutb Al-Din Shirazi MIM (2006). DURRAT AL-TAJ: Introduction, logic, general matters, natural philosophy and theology. Meshkouh M, editor. Tehran: Hekmat. [Persian]
- Tusi NAM (1982). SHARH AL-ISHARAT WA AL-TANBIHAT. 2nd edition. Qom: DAFTAR NASHR AL-KETAB. [Arabic]
- Zabihi M (2013). Peripatetic philosophy with emphasis on the main views of Ibn Sina. Tehran: SAMT Publications. [Persian]
Philosophical Thought
Volume 6, Issue 2
Spring 2026
Pages 227-241

  • Receive Date 07 May 2026
  • Revise Date 24 May 2026
  • Accept Date 09 June 2026
  • Publish Date 21 April 2026