Abstract
In Mabādi’ ārā’ ahl al-madīna al-fādila as well as other major political writings of al-Fārābī, politics is accompanied by metaphysics. However, the co-existence of politics and Neoplatonic metaphysics in al-Fārābī is usually refuted on the basis of two major arguments: one, the Neoplatonic argument, which denies al-Fārābī’s politics; and two, the Straussian argument, which denies al-Fārābī’s Neoplatonic metaphysics. However, this article would show that the two arguments against the co-existence of politics and Neoplatonic metaphysics in al-Fārābī are faulty, and that politics and Neoplatonic metaphysics certainly co-exist in al-Fārābī’s philosophical thought. It would be shown that, in fact, Neoplatonic metaphysics plays an important role in al-Fārābī’s politics and distinguishes his theory of the virtuous city from that of Plato’s Republic.
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Notes
Mabādi’ ārā’ ahl al-madīna al-fādila is hereafter referred to as Ārā’.
Leo Strauss and his followers argue against the Neoplatonic metaphysics of al-Fārābī. They do not recognize al-Fārābī’s Neoplatonic metaphysics as a genuine part of his philosophical thought. They suggest that al-Fārābī’s Neoplatonic metaphysics is exoteric, a mere tool to make his controversial views palatable to the religious section of his society. I would discuss this Straussian argument against the Neoplatonic metaphysics of al-Fārābī in Section 4.1.2 of the article. Furthermore, I would provide a counter-argument against the Straussian argument in Section 4.2.2, and would show that the Straussian argument is based on unsound grounds.
For al-Fārābī’s detailed characterization of the First Being see Al-Fārābī 1985, pp. 57–89.
Strauss and his followers give the same argument for medieval Muslim philosophers’ preference for Plato’s Republic over Aristotle’s Politics in their political discussions. They argue that medieval Muslim philosophers worked in a hostile environment and were compelled to present their views in conformity with the Islamic religion. Since Plato’s Republic suits Islamic theological views and Aristotle’s Politics does not, Medieval Muslim philosophers based their political discussions on Plato’s Republic and not on Aristotle’s Politics. However, in my recent article, I (Ali, 2022) have refuted this argument, and have suggested an alternative reason for medieval Muslim philosophers’ preference for Plato’s Republic in their political discussions. For details see Ali 2022.
For a detailed discussion on the relationship between the virtuous city of al-Fārābī and the first Muslim polity see Ali and Qin (2019).
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This research was supported by the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation Fund project, “Philosophy vs Theology: Research on Medieval Arab Thought From a Historical Perspective” (2022M712803).
This research was also supported by the National Social Science Fund of China project, “Research on the Tradition of the Theory of Creation” (20BZJ032).
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Ali, I. Politics and Metaphysics in Plato and Al-Fārābī: Distinguishing the Virtuous City of Al-Fārābī from that of Plato in Terms of their Distinct Metaphysics. Philosophia 51, 1041–1061 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11406-022-00597-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11406-022-00597-7