فارابی

Open Access Article

1 - The Possibility of Paradigm Analysis in Political Philosophy of Farabi
منصور میراحمدی Meisam Ghahreman

So far, the political philosophy of Farabi has been thoroughly studied from different perspective; however, paradigm analysis is one of the approaches which are considerably influential and practical in this regard. The aim of present research isto investigate the possi More

So far, the political philosophy of Farabi has been thoroughly studied from different perspective; however, paradigm analysis is one of the approaches which are considerably influential and practical in this regard. The aim of present research isto investigate the possibility of paradigm analysis in political philosophy of Farabi; in other words, we will examine whether five-aspect analysis and presuppositions of Farabi would able the researchers to have a paradigm analysis or not. The study hypothesis says that this matter is possible since such an analysis not only distinguishes the principles of ontology, epistemology, anthropology, sociology (knowledge of community)and teleology, but it also enables the depiction of a meaningfully logical line among these factors and consequently among the components of the political philosophy of Farabi. Manuscript profile

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2 - Cosmology of Politics Al Farabi and the Lack of Need to Evaluate Propositions in Civil Philosophy
Reza Akbari Nouri

The relationship between practical philosophy and theoretical philosophy is an old topic in the history of political philosophy. This relationship in the old philosophical system is mainly a secondary relationship between practical philosophy and theoretical philosophy. More

The relationship between practical philosophy and theoretical philosophy is an old topic in the history of political philosophy. This relationship in the old philosophical system is mainly a secondary relationship between practical philosophy and theoretical philosophy.But the important issue is the degree of adherence of practical philosophy to theoretical philosophy, and the effect that one has on the other. Based on this assumption, the present article will argue on what this relationship is in the tenth century Abu Nasr M. Farabi's political philosophy, and the extent of his theoretical philosophy's influence on the reproduction of practical philosophy. For this purpose, by relying on a cognitive method in ancient philosophy (i.e., analogy) an attempt has been made to show how Farabi reproduced his political philosophy by placing theoretical philosophy as a basis. The article argues that Farabi has extracted his political philosophy from the heart of theoretical philosophy in a one-sided action, and this action has reached the reproduction of theoretical philosophy in political philosophy. By focusing on theoretical philosophy and transferring propositions from theoretical philosophy to political philosophy, Farabi doesnot recognize the need to re-evaluate the propositions transferred to political philosophy. In a similar context by matching one of these two to the other using the method of analogy or analogy, Farabi practically has seen no need to reassess his propositions in political philosophy.Therefore, his task as a political philosopher in describing the utopia and desirable order and the non-ideal and non-ideal cities is completed in a place that has not yet moved far from theoretical philosophy. In this article, an attempt has been made to show how the independence of political philosophy and its understanding in his opinions is subject to theoretical philosophy, relying on the method that Farabi has chosen to achieve political philosophy, and how this issue has caused his commentators to have very different views from each other. Manuscript profile

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3 - Centrality of the Economy of Culture in Fārābian Moral Pattern and its Function in the Program of “Philosophy and Children”
Nadia Maftouni

The program of “philosophy and children” is meant to touch the ethical foundations of children and one of its chief objectives is to train and promote the intellectual growth of children in order to construct an advanced and utopian society. In this work the author, fir More

The program of “philosophy and children” is meant to touch the ethical foundations of children and one of its chief objectives is to train and promote the intellectual growth of children in order to construct an advanced and utopian society. In this work the author, first, seeks to explore the Fārābian Islamic ethics, which as compared to other models of Islamic ethics, turns out to be a kind of Copernican revolution, then proceeds to prove the efficiency of Fārābian model for philosophy and children. The salient features of the Fārābian model is as follows: 1. The primacy of social ethics to individual ethics; 2. Defining individual ethics by social elements; 3. Exerting maximum effort for building wealth as the first necessary of individual ethics; 4. Exerting maximum effort for getting higher social positions as second necessary of individual ethics. It seems that in his model for establishing a utopia, Fārābī seeks to bring up a spirited and dynamic generation. Manuscript profile

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4 - Fārābī on Rational Training
Fariba Adelzadeh Naeini1 Reza Ali Norouzi Jahanbakhsh Rahmani

Reason enjoys a particular significance and place in Peripatetic philosophy in general and Fārābī’s thought in particular, to the extent that he wrote a particular treatise on reason. Moreover, Fārābī as the founder of Islamic philosophy has an unparalleled place in the More

Reason enjoys a particular significance and place in Peripatetic philosophy in general and Fārābī’s thought in particular, to the extent that he wrote a particular treatise on reason. Moreover, Fārābī as the founder of Islamic philosophy has an unparalleled place in the history of philosophy. Accordingly, to carry out a research on his view concerning reason seems to be very important. The present work aims at exploring rational training based on Fārābī’s theory of reason for which the author has followed an analytic-descriptive method. To this end, the author first treats Fārābī’s view of reason then embarks upon explaining the concept of rational training. According to the findings of this research, rational training in Fārābī is implemented by both practical and theoretical reason. The aim of rational training is to lead man to follow all levels of intellect, ranging from potential intellect to the acquired intellect, in the light of Active Intellect. That is, in the field of rational action and knowledge man should attain intellection; put it in other words, to attain perfect actuality and pure detachment. Manuscript profile

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5 - A Historical Study of the Theory of Induction
Moosa Malayeri

This study is intended to provide an answer to the following questions: Does induction generate certain knowledge or tentative conclusions? Is perfect induction possible or impossible? If it is impossible, could the addition of a supplement to imperfect induction result More

This study is intended to provide an answer to the following questions: Does induction generate certain knowledge or tentative conclusions? Is perfect induction possible or impossible? If it is impossible, could the addition of a supplement to imperfect induction result in certain and absolute judgments? In order to provide some answers to the raised questions, the writer has explored the historical development of the theory of induction and then discussed the theory adopted in this paper. This theory has not undergone many fluctuations in the history of Muslim thinkers’ logical thoughts and can be studied in three historical phases or periods. In the first phase, the greatest player of which was Fārābī and, more than him, Ibn Sīnā, induction was divided into perfect and imperfect types. At the same time, Fārābī explicitly stated that perfect induction is impossible and emphasized that imperfect induction results in uncertain conclusions. In order to compensate for the defects of induction, Ibn Sīnā demonstrated how the conclusions of an imperfect induction can be promoted to the level of an empirical judgment through using a compound syllogism and benefitting from the chance principle so that it would turn into an ensuring and certain conclusion. The main player of the second period is Fakhr al-Dīn Rāzī. He maintained that imperfect induction does not yield certain results, and what has been interpreted as empirical judgment and placed within the category of certainties and even axioms is not anything more than an analogy. The third phase is characterized by the efforts and ideas of Muhammad Baqir Sadr, who believed that, although imperfect induction results in certain conclusions, the mentioned certainty, in contrast to Ibn Sīnā’s view, does not result from the mediation of a compound syllogism and the chance principle. He, rather, acknowledged that the certainty of inductive judgments arises from a specific feature of human intellect which persuades it to ignore fewer possible instances in the face of numerous possible ones. He calls this kind of certainty subjective certainty. The present paper, after reporting and analyzing the three- fold periods, demonstrates that the only defensible and justifiable standpoint regarding the theory of induction belongs to Fakhr al-Dīn Rāzī and concludes that induction, whether by itself or with the help of a syllogism, yields nothing more than a tentative conclusion. Manuscript profile

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6 - Methodology of Great Muslim Philosophers’ Encounter with the Translation Trend of the Abbassid Period
Seyyed Mohammadali Dibaji

Researchers in the field of Islamic studies in the West have chosen the name of “Translation Movement” to refer to the trend of the translation of the books of different nations into Arabic during the Abbasid period. This trend, which continued for two centuries in diff More

Researchers in the field of Islamic studies in the West have chosen the name of “Translation Movement” to refer to the trend of the translation of the books of different nations into Arabic during the Abbasid period. This trend, which continued for two centuries in different spontaneous or guided forms, received some reactions from the Islamic society. One of the important questions in this regard is what the attitude of the distinguished Muslim philosophers of that period, particularly al-Kindī, Fārābī and Ibn Sīnā, was to this movement. The present study indicates that, unlike the common response in the historiography of the translation trend, instead of a translation movement, during this time we are faced with a philosophical movement alongside a scientific one in the history of Islam. The philosophers mentioned above separated their judgments of three problems, namely, translation, translators and interpreters, and translated and interpreted works, from each other. Based on their own philosophical movement, which was in conformity with the principles of Islamic thought, they had three methodological, reformist, and critical reactions to this trend. They evaluated the translated works based on Islamic philosophical theorems and benefitted from them with some innovations in their own philosophical systems. Manuscript profile

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7 - Historical look at the phrase “Political by nature” in the Middle Ages of the Islamic world
Sajjad Hejri Azartash Azarnoush

Being political for/Politicalness of human beings is one of the topics which philosophers have been discussing from ancient times until now, and it is the basis/foundation of some branches of practical philosophy, especially the philosophical principles of social scien More

Being political for/Politicalness of human beings is one of the topics which philosophers have been discussing from ancient times until now, and it is the basis/foundation of some branches of practical philosophy, especially the philosophical principles of social sciences. Although the necessity of "social life" or Being political/Politicalness for all human beings is more or less obvious; it was Greeks who scrutinized this phenomenon in their philosophical works, and what we know as being political by nature (of/about human beings) from the past to the present in the Islamic world has its roots in Greece and the age of translation. This phrase was created/emerged/coined by Isḥāq ibn Ḥunayn’s translation of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics in the third lunar century in the Islamic world, and the ground for its development was laid by Miskawayh’s Ethics. Although most contemporary translators of Aristotle's ethics into Persian and Arabic did not use this phrase, it's still prominent. The doctrine of Being political for/Politicalness of human beings became the basis/foundation of the demonstration of philosophers like Avicenna/ Ibn Sina to prove prophecy, and Fakhr al-Din Rāzi introduced it, which later became known as the way of philosophers, into theological works. By inquiring/studying/looking into available Persian and Arabic written heritage, this article tries to follow the development/pathway of the phrase “Political by nature”, which has turned into a term and model/form in the Islamic world, in middle ages and is still used today and in some aspects/somehow fill the gap of historical inquire about it in current literature. Manuscript profile

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8 - Explaining Fārābī’s Teleological View of Music
Mohsen Habibi Seyed Mohsen Mousavi

Fārābī’s specific view of music reveals the teleological importance of music for him. In his philosophy, music is connected with logical thought and political philosophy, and this connection plays an effective role in his musical system. The relationship between music, More

Fārābī’s specific view of music reveals the teleological importance of music for him. In his philosophy, music is connected with logical thought and political philosophy, and this connection plays an effective role in his musical system. The relationship between music, logic, and politics is established through the end of music. That is, the genre of poetry, as a part of logic, determines the end of music and also develops a relationship with civil philosophy (politics) in the course of this relation in the view of Fārābī. The reflection of such relationships can be seen in the definition of music, specifying its principles and source of its formation, types of music, and the classification and ranking of musical instruments. Given the final cause of music and its principles, which mathematics is not capable of explaining, Fārābī distances himself from mathematics when analyzing music. He equates the final cause of music with that of poetry, which is the same provoking of imagination to attain happiness for all. In this way, he emphasizes the imitative aspect of music and defines it as something more than a tool for entertainment. The teleological view yields some consequences for Fārābī’s general approach to music, which are the focal points of this paper. Manuscript profile

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9 - Fārābī and the Question of the Truth of Perception: A Critical Review of Mullā Ṣadrā’s View
Ghasem Purhasan Ali Piri

One of the most important and accurate problems in Fārābī’s epistemological philosophy is the question of perception and its relationship with the soul, reason, and ontological promotion. In sharp contrast to Aristotle, Fārābī challenges the theory of the passivity of t More

One of the most important and accurate problems in Fārābī’s epistemological philosophy is the question of perception and its relationship with the soul, reason, and ontological promotion. In sharp contrast to Aristotle, Fārābī challenges the theory of the passivity of the soul in perception, considers the soul to be the creator of perception and, in this way, founds the theory of the soul as an active agent. This theory has influenced the ideas of all the philosophers after him in the field of Islamic philosophy, from Ibn Sīnā to ‘Allamāh Ṭabāṭabā’ī. Fārābī connects perception with manifestation and presence, which are mainly discussed in the philosophical schools of Suhrawardī and Mullā Ṣadrā and defends it from the view point of ontology. Some of Fārābī’s innovations include acknowledging the creativity of the soul in perception, granting a graded nature to perception and knowledge, paying attention to the emergent and ontological mode of knowledge, understanding the generous and giving nature of knowledge alongside attaching fundamental importance to sense perception, criticizing non-certain types of knowledge and presenting a fundamental view regarding certain knowledge and, finally, introducing perception as a process. Following a comparative approach, the present study examines the problem of perception and its nature in Fārābī’s philosophy, while considering the views of other Muslim philosophers, and portrays the significance of his theory of perception. Manuscript profile

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10 - Philosophizing and playing with Philosophy in Coronavirus Period
Nadia Maftouni

Game, amusement, and pleasure are the issues that always reflected on Fārābī’s works to the extent that he considered them as necessary and useful artworks within the framework of moral, moderate and happy considerations. For him, those who work hard and are serious for More

Game, amusement, and pleasure are the issues that always reflected on Fārābī’s works to the extent that he considered them as necessary and useful artworks within the framework of moral, moderate and happy considerations. For him, those who work hard and are serious for attaining their rational happiness should enjoy a kind of tranquility and rest in order to feel refreshed in following up their objectives. Game and amusement are often accompanied with imitative images. The word imitation or mimesis is used by Abū Bashār Mattā in the translation of Aristotle’s Art of Poetics. Aristotle’s mimesis is the same imitation as monkey or parrot also does it. Ibn Sīnā, Khwajah Naṣīr al-Dīn Ṭūsī, and ‘Allāmah Ḥillī also used this term in their works. For Fārābī the meaning of mimesis is more than imitation and is associated with creation. In his view the faculty of imagination contains three potencies of preserving the sensory forms, and then possessing and imitating them. Man in the third one juxtaposes a sensory form with another sensory form which is usually coupled with a meaning. Moreover, imagination imitates universal and philosophical concepts and the intellectuals. Mimesis may take place with the aim of carrying out an amusement and game. Since in Fārābī’s view game and amusement are used in moral sense and he referred to them openly so they are not indecent and disapproved. Teachers can use from games in their teaching. In teaching Islamic philosophy, gnosis, and logic in coronavirus period, the author used from various games and utilized the facilities of Tehran University. Usually, cyberspace classroom is prosy as compare to the real classrooms but there are certain merits in cyberspace classroom that real classrooms lack them. Of course, Tehran University uses the same international model system for teaching students. Manuscript profile

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11 - A Study of the Historical Development of the Notion of Platonic-Aristotelean Agape and Love in Fārābī and Ṭūsī (In the Realm of Human Relationships)
Fereshteh Abolhassani Niaraki

The present study provides a description and analysis of the historical development of the notion of Aristotelean-Platonic agape (love) in the philosophical thoughts of Fārābī and Khwājah Nasīr al-Dīn Ṭūsī. Following a historical method, the author deals with the reason More

The present study provides a description and analysis of the historical development of the notion of Aristotelean-Platonic agape (love) in the philosophical thoughts of Fārābī and Khwājah Nasīr al-Dīn Ṭūsī. Following a historical method, the author deals with the reasons behind this development in addition to describing it. The discussion of friendship (agape) in Aristotle’s philosophy is propounded in his Nichomachean Ethics, where some traces of Platonic notion are also observable. This discussion was transformed in Islamic Philosophy in certain respects, including the variety of the beloved (and the most beloved), individualistic or socialist aspect, and selfishness or selflessness aspect. Regarding the variety of the beloved, the discussion has moved from virtue-based friendship (agape) to the love of the Wise (God). As to its range, one can observe a change of dialog form social-political friendship to agape as an internal characteristic with individual and social effects. Moreover, it has moved beyond selfishness and selflessness and, in conformity with the principle of congruence, reached the love from Him (Godly). The influential views of such thinkers as Plotinus; the role of religion, culture, and gnosis, and the ideas of Ibn Sīnā, Ibn Miskawayh, and Suhrawardī are of great importance in explaining this development. The particular philosophical and Kalāmī principles of Fārābī and Ṭūsī as well as some of their ethical views are the most important factors in the interpretation of the underlying reasons of the mentioned development. Manuscript profile

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12 - The problem of prophecy from the point of view of Farabi and Ibn Meimoun
Mohammad Ali Akhavian

The issue of "prophecy" has long been the focus of philosophers' discussions. This research uses a library method to analyze the truth of prophecy between two philosophers, one from the Islamic school and the other from the Jewish Sharia. From the point of view of both More

The issue of "prophecy" has long been the focus of philosophers' discussions. This research uses a library method to analyze the truth of prophecy between two philosophers, one from the Islamic school and the other from the Jewish Sharia. From the point of view of both philosophers, man was created to achieve true perfection and happiness, and the only way to reach true and lasting happiness is through the existence and guidance of the Prophet, and following the Prophet's instructions will make them reach It becomes perfection and happiness. In this research, firstly, we independently stated the views of both philosophers in relation to prophecy, and at the end of the research, we determined that their views are the same in relation to the truth, necessity, attributes, levels of prophets, duties and prophetic revelation. However, in the parts related to distinguishing a prophet from a non-prophet, divine law from non-divine, the best of prophets, and the ways of receiving revelation, their views differ from each other. Manuscript profile

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13 - An Interpretation of the Dialogue of Laws from the Viewpoint of Leo Strauss Based on Fārābī’s Treatise of Talkhīṣ al-Nawāmīs
Havva Jami Seyed Mohammad Hakkak Qazvini Ali Naghi Baghershahi Shervin Moghimi Zanjani

Presently, historicism is the dominant approach in interpreting philosophical traditions. This approach considers each science, particularly philosophy, to be in some way related to the specific lifetime of thinkers. Within this framework, historicist interpreters exami More

Presently, historicism is the dominant approach in interpreting philosophical traditions. This approach considers each science, particularly philosophy, to be in some way related to the specific lifetime of thinkers. Within this framework, historicist interpreters examine Plato’s works in relation to four different periods, with the dialogue of Laws belonging to the latest period of his life, indicating a change in his approach. However, in opposition to any kind of historicist view, Leo Strauss disagrees with this division and believes that there is no change of direction in Plato’s overall philosophy – from the first to the last dialogue – and all of them address philosophical problems from a specific standpoint. We encounter this comprehensive approach also in Strauss’ reading of the dialogue of Laws. In fact, Strauss believes that, in order to grasp a real understanding of the dialogue of Laws, one must follow his method and consider Fārābī’s interpretation of this work in Talkhīṣ al-nawāmīs as a basis. Strauss also maintains that it is the only way through which one can go beyond the limits of historical interpretation. While providing a brief discussion of the historical interpretation of the Laws, the purpose of the present study is to examine Fārābī’s interpretation of the dialogue of Laws, Strauss’ critique and view of this interpretation, and the most distinctive features of Strauss’ innovative interpretation of this dialogue. Manuscript profile

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14 - Fārābī and Islamic Peripatetic Philosophy in the First European Universities
Reza Mahoozi

Fārābī, the renowned Iranian philosopher, is one of the central figures of Peripatetic philosophy in the world of Islam. The collection of his thoughts travelled beyond Islamic borders to Asian, Europe and Africa posthumously and influenced the scientific fields of Jewi More

Fārābī, the renowned Iranian philosopher, is one of the central figures of Peripatetic philosophy in the world of Islam. The collection of his thoughts travelled beyond Islamic borders to Asian, Europe and Africa posthumously and influenced the scientific fields of Jewish, Christian, and other non-Islamic lands. The thoughts of Fārābī and two other prominent figures of this school of philosophy, Ibn Sīnā and Ibn Rushd, exercised an undeniable impact on the development of the higher scientific centers of Europe of the 13-15 centuries (AD). In fact, without considering their role in the formation of the first European universities, especially the university of Paris and the process of establishing the faculty of philosophy during the conflict between the two faculties of theology and art, one cannot attain a true knowledge of the reasons behind the development and expansion of the first European universities. Relying on valid historical documents and reports, this paper explains this influential process and, at the same time, portrays one of the routes of the transfer of Muslims’ culture and philosophical thoughts to Europe and the quality of the formation of the institution of university during that time. Manuscript profile

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15 - From Imaginal Faculty to Imagination: A Review of the Evolution of the Concept of Imagination in the Philosophical Systems of Fārābī, Ibn Sīnā, Suhrawardī, and Mullā Ṣadrā
Ibrahim Bazargani

Imagination is one of the human perceptive faculties that is shared with animals. This concept, which has been transferred from Greek philosophy to Muslims’ philosophical tradition, has always been a very important problem with various functions in the self-knowledge of More

Imagination is one of the human perceptive faculties that is shared with animals. This concept, which has been transferred from Greek philosophy to Muslims’ philosophical tradition, has always been a very important problem with various functions in the self-knowledge of Muslim philosophers from Fārābī to Mullā Ṣadrā. It has even been used in responding to some kalāmī inquiries. Since the very beginning, Muslim philosophers have continuously devoted some of their studies to the investigation and explanation of the whatness and howness of the concept of imagination. However, this concept has not remained immune against change and has developed a distinct meaning in each philosophical system. In the history of Islamic philosophy, the three-fold schools of philosophy (Peripatetic philosophy, Illuminationist philosophy, and the Transcendent Philosophy) have each adopted a particular and different approach to this problem. The present study intends to examine the theories of some great figures of Islamic philosophy regarding the whatness of the faculty of imagination and reveal the existing differences among them. The findings indicate that philosophers’ views of the concept of imagination have not been fixed and similar in the course of history, and each has presented a specific and innovative explanation of this concept in conformity with their own philosophical system. For example, Fārābī considered this faculty to be a material component of the soul, while Mullā Ṣadrā changed it into the world of Ideas. This study was conducted following a descriptive-comparative method using library resources. Manuscript profile

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