"Al-Farabi of Baghdad (c. 870-950) is the first major representative of the medieval Arabic Aristotelianism which came to influence the Christian West so profoundly. In the Islamic world his writings on logic set the pattern for the future and virtually created Islamic philosophy. He is also important as a witness to the study of Aristotle in late antiquity, demonstrating a knowledge of Galen and the exegetical tradition of Porphyry. This translation is based on a fresh study of the Arabic (...) manuscripts. An introduction and notes make this intriguing document accessible to all for whom it contains important matter.Classicists, historians of philosophy and logic, medievalists, Arabists, students of Islamic thought."--. (shrink)

al-Risālah 1. Risālah fī Ithbāt al-mufāraqāt -- al-risālah 2. Risālah fi Aghrāḍ mā baʻda al-ṭabīʻah -- al-risālah 3. Kitāb Taḥṣīl al-saʻādah -- al-risālah 4. Risālah fī al-Taʻlīqāt -- al-risālah 5. Kitāb al-Tanbīh ʻalá sabīl al-saʻādah -- al-risālah 6. al-Tajrīd ʻalá Risālat al-Daʻāwá al-qalbīyah -- al-risālah 7. Sharḥ Risālat Zaynūn al-Kabīr al-Yūnānī -- al-risālah 8. Kitāb al-Fuṣuṣ -- al-risālah 9. -- Risālah fī Faḍīlat al-ʻulūm wa-al-ṣināʻāt -- al-risālah 10. Rasāʼil fī masāʼil mutafarriqah.

Selected aphorisms -- Enumeration of the sciences, chapter 5 -- Book of religion -- The harmonization of the two opinions of the two sages: Plato the Divine and Aristotle.

pt. 1. The attainment of happiness.--pt. 2. The philosophy of Plato, its parts, the ranks of order of its parts, from the beginning to the end.--pt. 3. The philosophy of Aristotle, the parts of his philosophy, the ranks of order of its parts, the position from which he started and the one he reached.

"During the years 800-1200 A.D., Arabic scholars studied many of the works of Greek philosophy, and recorded their interpretations. Significant Arabic interpretations of Aristotle's Prior Analytics, the key work of his logical Organon, however, have remained largely unavailable in the West. The recent discovery of several Arabic manuscripts in Istanbul revealed the "Short Commentary on Prior Analytics" by the medieval Arabic philosopher al-Farabi. Nicholas Rescher here presents the first translation of this work in English, and supplements this with an (...) informative introduction and numerous explanatory footnotes." --. (shrink)

Ukrainian translation of al-Farabi’s treatise.

Tetrainertia, as a universal process, function of moving matter, is its structural characteristic. And the sphere is a product of matter, its concrete form and a figurative model for studying the properties of tetrainertia. This thinking is a supplement to the first publication: The mechanics of existence.

De scientiis: translation by Gerard of Cremona of (romanized: Ibsā al-ʻulūm)--De intellectu et intellecto: anonymous translation of (romanized: Risālah fi al-ʻaql).

Resumo: O artigo trata da retórica na Antiguidade e na Idade Média a partir da perspectiva de onze filósofos – Platão e Aristóteles, Cícero, Sêneca e Quintiliano, a Retórica a Herênio, Agostinho, Marciano Capela e Isidoro de Sevilha, Bernardo de Claraval e Ramon Llull. Oferece, ainda, um extrato por nós traduzido da Retórica nova do filósofo catalão, a primeira tradução para a língua portuguesa.: This article deals with rhetoric in Antiquity and Middle Ages from the perspective of eleven philosophers: Plato, (...) Aristotle, Cicero, Seneca, Quintilian, the unknown author of the Rhetorica ad Herennium, Saint Augustine, Martianus Capella, Isidore of Seville, Bernard of Clairvaux, and Ramon It also offers an extract translated by us from Llull’s Retorica nova. (shrink)

The proposed publication is oriented to those who are interested in the issues of being and thinking (consciousness). The emphasis on matter and movement in its dynamically stable state - tetrainertia, as a special phenomenon and the essence and quality of objective reality are considered.

Regarding Farabi writing on Happiness, the sources of his specific manuscript will be explored and examined. As a result, we reach his eclectic reading and reception of Aristotle's philosophy.

Farabi et l'école d'Alexandrie, est la première étude consacrée à l'ensemble des thèmes de l'œuvre de celui qui fut l'un des plus grands philosophes arabes.

This paper focuses on a discussion in Abu Nasr al-Farabi’s Book of Letters (Kitāb al-Ḥurūf), which has to do with the importation of philosophical (including scientific) discourse from one language or nation (ummah) to another. The question of importing philosophical discourse from one language or nation to another touches on Farabi’s views on a number of important philosophical questions. It reveals something about his views on the nature of philosophical and scientific concepts and their relation to concepts in (...) non-philosophical or ‘popular’ discourse, as well as the means of grasping previously unencountered concepts. In this article, I will discuss these issues both to ascertain Farabi’s views as well as to shed some light on them in their own right. I will argue that Farabi thinks that the understanding of some novel philosophical or scientific concepts sometimes depends on the grasp of related concepts from ordinary discourse, and that experts rely on these everyday concepts in acquiring the more specialized concepts. If the same linguistic terms are used to denote both concepts, they will be ambiguous, but this can be considered a case of ‘productive ambiguity,’ since it aids in the acquisition of novel concepts. (shrink)

The discourse surrounding Islamic philosophy has garnered significant attention among scholars, highlighting a multitude of benefits and limitations related to its authenticity and its position as an essential component of Islamic cultural legacy. Some believe that Islamic philosophy is simply a reinvention of Greek philosophical concepts, thus undermining its credibility. Conversely, proponents advocate the integration of Greek philosophical principles with Islamic tenets as a synthesis rather than a simple replication. This article aspires to delve into these diverse perspectives by analyzing (...) the historical transformation of Islamic philosophy, with a spotlight on its initial periods, particularly stressing the impact of Abū Naṣr al-Fārābī (d. 951 CE), a significant figure in Islamic philosophy who synthesized Greek philosophical ideas, notably those of Aristotle and Plato, to construct a unique Islamic philosophical framework. Through a qualitative conceptual analysis, this article evaluates the authoritative dimensions and philosophical disputes between Aristotle and Plato, particularly concerning ontology and epistemology, while accentuating al-Fārābī’s endeavors to harmonize their philosophical positions. This article suggests that al-Fārābī engaged in a critical examination of both Plato's and Aristotle’s perspectives on universal truth and human cognition, which ultimately led him to incorporate their philosophies into a unique Islamic framework. (shrink)

This essay will explore some of al-Farabi’s paradoxical remarks on the nature and status of the democratic city (al-madinah al-jama'iyyah). In describing this type of non-virtuous city, Farabi departs significantly from Plato, according the democratic city a superior standing and casting it in a more positive light. Even though at one point Farabi follows Plato in considering the timocratic city to be the best of the imperfect cities, at another point he implies that the democratic city occupies (...) this position. Since Farabi’s discussion of imperfect cities is derived from Plato’s Republic and follows it in many important respects, I will argue that his departure from Plato in this context is significant and points to some revealing differences between the two philosophers. In order to demonstrate this, I will first set up a comparison between Plato’s conception of the democratic city and Farabi’s. Then I will propose three explanations for the greater appreciation that Farabi seems to have for democracy, as well as for the apparent contradiction in Farabi’s verdict concerning the second best city. (shrink)

This is the only available comprehensive introduction to the life and achievements of the ninth-century Islamic pjilosopher, Al-Farabi.

In his commentary on the first Aphorism of Hippocrates Maimonides lists the seven parts of medicine. Scholars have studied the relation of this text to the work of al-Fārābī. In particular, they have focused on the Iḥṣāʼ al-ʼulῡm, which in its present form does not contain a discussion of medicine, and on al-Fārābīʼs Risāla fi al-ţibb. The article examines the medieval Hebrew versions of the Iḥṣāʼ al-ʽūlum. On the basis of these versions, it is argued that there existed a version (...) of the Ihşāʼ al-ʽulūm which did contain a section on medicine; that the Risala fi al-ţibb could have originated in such a fuller version of the Ihsa' al-'ulum; and that Maimonides's ultimate source for his classification of medicine was probably the Iḥṣāʼ al-ʽulūm. An appendix to the paper examines Maimonides's references to Galen and to Abū Bakr al- Rāzī. These references show Maimonides's perception of al-Fārābīʼs view of physicians who claim to be philosophers. Dans son commentaire sur le premier aphorisme d'Hippocrate, Maïmonide décrit les sept parties de la médecine. Dans le passé, les chercheurs ont étudié le rapport de ce texte avec l'œuvre d'al-Fārābī, surtout le Iḥṣāʼ al-ʼulῡm et la Risāla fi al-ţibb. L'article examine les traductions hébraïques médiévales du Iḥṣāʼ al-ʽulūm. Ces traductions suggèrent l'existence d'une version, aujourd'hui disparue, du Iḥṣāʼ al-ʼulῡm, contenant une section sur la médecine. II est possible que la Risāla fi al-ţibb trouve son origine dans cette version, et il semble que la taxonomie de la médecine offerte par Maïmonide est issue, en dernière analyse, du Iḥṣāʼ al-ʼulῡm. Un appendice examine les références faites par Maïmonide à Galien et à Abū Bakr al-Rāzī, et prend note de ce que Maïmonide croyait être l'opinion d'al- Fār¯bī sur les médecins qui se prennent pour des philosophes. (shrink)

Abu Nasur al-Farabi was an Arabic polymath and philosopher, and the first Arabic logician credited with developing a non-Aristotelian logic. He discussed the topics of future contingents, the number and relation of the categories, the relation between logic and grammar, and non-Aristotelian forms of inference. He is also credited with categorizing logic into two separate groups, the first being “idea” and the second being “proof.” Nicholas Rescher assembles this annotated bibliography, listing printed materials relating to al-Farabi, and summaries (...) that provide further details of these works. (shrink)

Al-Farabi understands politically useful images to be good imitations of essences, and also effective means of persuasion for geographically and historically situated communities. Such images, moreover, are what constitute the virtuous religions of virtuous cities. At play in al-Farabi’s account of images is thus a relationship between image, religion, truth, and history, and one that brings with it certain implications for how we understand the nature of the human being. We are creatures of truth, of the grasping of (...) essences, and hence of universals, and yet we are differently persuaded by images depending upon our geography and our history. And since historically diverse images can imitate the same universal essences, many different religions can nevertheless be “true,” and hence can function in such a way as to orient geographically and historically specific people toward happiness. Al-Farabi’s account of images is thus at the heart of his political theory of religion, and provides the basis for his affirmation of religious pluralism in relation to the virtuous city. The following essay considers the relationship between images and religious pluralism in al-Farabi’s political writings, and shows as well that it implies a correlating theory of the human being. (shrink)