Explores the approach to peaceful religious coexistence offered by Alfarabi, the greatest Islamic political philosopher.Joshua Parens provides an introduction to the thought of Alfarabi, a tenth-century Muslim political philosopher whose writings are particularly relevant today. Parens focuses on Alfarabi's Attainment of Happiness, in which he envisions the kind of government and religion needed to fulfill Islam's ambition of universal acceptance. Parens argues that Alfarabi seeks to temper the hopes of Muslims and other believers that one homogeneous religion might befit the entire world and counsels acceptance of the possibility of a multiplicity of virtuous religions. Much of Alfarabi's approach is built upon Plato's Republic, which Parens also examines in order to provide the necessary background for a proper understanding of Alfarabi's thought.
Joshua Parens is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Dallas and author of Metaphysics as Rhetoric: Alfarabi's Summary of Plato's "Laws," also published by SUNY Press.
AcknowledgmentsAbbreviations 1. Introduction Alfarabi ’s Life and His InfluenceAlfarabi’s Manner of Writing Overview 2. The Impossibility of the City in the Republic Kallipolis as Ideal State or Totalitarian Nightmare? The Three Waves and the Problem of PossibilityThe First WaveThe Second WaveThe Digression on WarThe Third Wave 3. The A Fortiori Argument Alfarabi on the Republic in the Attainment of Happiness: Educating Philosopher-kings to Rule the Inhabited World, the ChallengeTension in the "Unity of the Virtues": Hard vs. SoftThe Uneasy Peace between Prudence and Wisdom 4. Alfarabi on Jihad From iman vs. kufr to islam vs. harb Alfarabi’s Aphorisms on JihadAphorisms 67 and 79Aphorisms 11–16Aphorisms 68–76Alfarabi’s Attainment of Happiness on JihadChallenges to Compelling Good Character 5. The Multiplicity Argument The Increasing Tendency toward Conquest and DominationThe Task of Deliberation: Shaping a Multiplicity of CharactersThe Task of Theoretical Virtue: Shaping a Multiplicity of OpinionsReligion as an Imitation of Philosophy 6. The Limits of Knowledge and the Problem of Realization Knowledge and ExploitationAttainment of HappinessThe Philosophy of Aristotle: The Limits of Our Knowledge of Final CausesCertainty and the Knowledge of Universals and ParticularsThe Limits of Knowledge and the Inherent Multiplicity of Religion NotesBibliographyIndex
