Al-Farabi - The Second Master (Philosophy)

Al-Farabi - The Second Master (Episode 3):

Centuries, before Karl Marx proposed his influential dialectic and Max Weber, explored the utility of the division of labor, a multi-talented Central Asian philosopher musician by the name of Abu Nasr Al-Farabi laid the intellectual framework for which these ideas were developed. Contributing heavily to the fields of Music Theory and Social science, Al-Farabi is best remembered for his seminal social science text "Opinions of the Inhabitants of the Virtuous City".

Inspired by Plato's Republic, Al-Farabi's text combined Platonic, Aristotelean, and Islamic Virtues to systemize a practical guide for creating Utopian (or "Virtuous") city-states. According to Al-Farabi, In these Utopian city-states, rules would be just, enlightened, and equitable, and citizens would live according to their abilities and their needs. Al-Farabi is also known to have worked alongside the prominent Christian Philosopher Yahya ibn Adi and is celebrated as an intellectual ambassador of the Central Asian and Khorasan region (having either Turkish or Turkmen heritage). Additionally, Al-Farabi is adored for his works on music with Al-Farabi being an early pioneer in the systemisation of Music.

This is part three of our series on Islamic philosophy.