Ibn ‘Arabi and Spinoza on God and the World

Abstract

This paper is a comparative analysis of Ibn ‘Arabi’s and Spinoza’s interpretation of God’s existence and its relation with the world. The focus will be on the ontology of these two thinkers from different intellectual traditions, elucidating their tripartite system in order to find out whether the reality of the world in its relationship to God is denied or affirmed. To vindicate the similarities between the ontological views of Ibn ‘Arabi and Spinoza this paper argues in light of God’s simplicity and causality that the existence of the world can be understood by denying and affirming its identity with God.