Al-Farabi and His SchoolExamines one of the most exciting and dynamic periods in the development of medieval Islam, from the late 9th to the early 11th century, through the thought of five of its principal thinkers, prime among them al-Farabi. This great Islamic philosopher, called 'the Second Master' after Aristotle, produced a recognizable school of thought in which others pursued and developed some of his own intellectual preoccupations. Their thought is treated with particular reference to the most basic questions which can be asked in the theory of knowledge or epistemology. The book thus fills a lacuna in the literature by using this approach to highlight the intellectual continuity which was maintained in an age of flux. Particular attention is paid to the ethical dimensions of knowledge. |
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Abū acquired Active Actual al-'Amiri al-Farabi al-Sijistāni al-Tawhidi already animal appears Arabic text Aristotelian Aristotle aspects authors Badawi Baghdad basic become chapter Christian classification clear clearly course court culture described dimension discussion division doctrine English epistemology Epistle ethics examination example existing Fakhry final follows forms four Greek History of Islamic Humanism ibid ideas important intellect interesting introd Introduction Islamic Philosophy kind Kitāb knowledge known Kraemer latter least logic major means medieval Middle Muslim nature Neoplatonic Netton noted original paradigm particular Perfect Plato political possible primary principle provides question rational reason reference Renaissance of Islam Risāla Rosenthal Rowson scholars School Sciences senses soul sources stress survey theology theory things thinkers thought tion tradition trans Transcendent translation Treatise University virtue volume Walzer wazir whole writing Yahya Yahya ibn Adi