they deny the existence of a self-subsisting being that is neither inside nor outside the world and cannot be pointed to. They claim that denying this is a judgment of supposition and imagination, which follow sense perception. When asked for evidence demonstrating the possibility of a being that is neither inside nor outside the world, their refuge and recourse are these very universals. Ibn Sīnā likewise took refuge in them, as did those who adopted this from him—al-Rāzī and his followers, such as al-Asbahānī and others.

[Ibn Sīnā’s statement on universals in al-Ishārāt]

At the beginning of the fourth section, which concerns existence and its causes, Ibn Sīnā said:

“Know that people often suppose that what exists is what is perceptible to the senses; that whatever the senses cannot apprehend in its substance cannot possibly be supposed to exist; and that whatever does not occupy a place or have a position—either in itself, as a body does, or through that in which it inheres, as the states of a body do—has no share in existence. Yet you can examine the very things perceived by the senses and thereby recognize the falsity of their assertion. You and anyone worthy of being addressed know that these sense-perceptible things may be designated by