Lived: 936 -c.1030 AD
Persian courtier, statesman, historian, physician and advocate of Greek and other ancient learning in Islam.
His On the Refinement of Character has been called "the most influential work on philosophical ethics" in Islam. It transmutes Quranic ethics into Aristotlian virtue ethics whose goal is disciplining (ta'dib) of our natural irascibility, allowing our deeper unity to be expressed in love and fellowship. Miskawayh's system was copied widely in Al-Ghazali's all but canonical treatment of virtue ethics - but often denatured by Al-Ghazali's substitution of pietistic themes where Miskawayh seemed too secular or humanistic.
For all that he still is remembered fondly by those who know of him. He was one of those alround good guys that crop up oh so rarely in the history books.