The Influence of Temperament on the Principles of Voluntary Action and Its Moderation Strategies from Avicenna’s Perspective (with Emphasis on the Choleric Temperament)

Document Type : Scholarly Article

Author
Mona Faridi Khorshidi
Assistant Professor, Department of Islamic Philosophy and Theology, Imam Sadiq University, Tehran, Iran
10.30497/ap.2025.248999.1759
Abstract
Avicenna, by integrating peripatetic philosophy with traditional medicine, formulated a unified system for explaining human voluntary action. In his view, temperament (mizaj)—as the bodily foundation of the soul—affects all the principles underlying voluntary acts. Among temperaments, the choleric temperament (safra), when in a state of moderation, brings about quick discernment of benefits and harms, courage, strong willpower, and perseverance. Through a content analysis of Avicenna’s works, this study demonstrates that the choleric temperament, in its non-moderate state, can also negatively influence human action by affecting each of the principles of voluntary behavior. For instance, it may disrupt the process of voluntary action by stimulating the irascible faculty (quwwa ghadabiyya) and weakening the practical intellect, leading to impulsiveness and anger that hinder rational choice. At times, the heat of choler may accelerate inference but consequently reduce prudence in evaluating outcomes; at other times, it may cause tremors or physical weakness, obstructing the actual performance of volitional acts.Avicenna’s proposed solutions are based on a three-dimensional educational framework grounded in temperament moderation, refinement of the irascible faculty, and strengthening of the practical intellect and willpower. From a holistic perspective, Avicenna views the correction of voluntary action in choleric individuals as requiring the collaboration of medicine, ethics, and education. Although choler, through arousing anger and diminishing deliberation, poses a threat to rational agency, its rational management can transform it into an opportunity for cultivating conscious and deliberate will.
Keywords
Choleric Temperament
Principles of Voluntary Action
Will
Avicenna (Ibn Sīnā)
Subjects
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