Editing Al-Farabi (section)

=== Practical philosophy (ethics and politics) ===

The practical application of philosophy was a major concern expressed by al-Farabi in many of his works, and while the majority of his philosophical output has been influenced by Aristotelian thought, his practical philosophy was unmistakably based on that of [[Plato]].{{sfn|Corbin|1993|p=162}} In a similar manner to [[Plato's Republic|Plato's ''Republic'']], al-Farabi emphasized that philosophy was both a theoretical and practical discipline; labeling those philosophers who do not apply their erudition to practical pursuits as "futile philosophers". The ideal society, he wrote, is one directed towards the realization of "true happiness" (which can be taken to mean philosophical enlightenment) and as such, the ideal philosopher must hone all the necessary arts of rhetoric and poetics to communicate abstract truths to the ordinary people, as well as having achieved enlightenment himself.{{sfn|Black|1996|p=190}} Al-Farabi compared the philosopher's role in relation to society with a physician in relation to the body; the body's health is affected by the "balance of its [[humorism|humours]]" just as the city is determined by the moral habits of its people. The philosopher's duty, he wrote, was to establish a "virtuous" society by healing the souls of the people, establishing justice and guiding them towards "true happiness".{{sfn|Butterworth|2005|p=278}}

Of course, al-Farabi realized that such a society was rare and required a very specific set of historical circumstances to be realized, which means very few societies could ever attain this goal. He divided those "vicious" societies, which have fallen short of the ideal "virtuous" society, into three categories: ignorant, wicked and errant. ''Ignorant'' societies have, for whatever reason, failed to comprehend the purpose of human existence, and have supplanted the pursuit of happiness for another (inferior) goal, whether this be wealth, sensual gratification or power. Al-Farabi mentions "weeds" in the virtuous society: those people who try to undermine its progress towards the true human end.{{sfn|Black|1996|p=191}} The best known Arabic source for al-Farabi's political philosophy is his work titled, ''Ara Ahl al-Madina al-fadila''.{{efn-ua|name=Virtuous}}

Although some consider al-Farabi to be a political idealism,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Baeck |first1=Louis |editor1-last=Laurence S. Moss |title=Joseph A. Schumpeter, Historian of Economics: Prespectives on the history of economic thought. Selected papers from the History of Economics Society Conference, 1994 |date=1996 |publisher=Routledge |location=London & New York |isbn=0-415-13353-X |pages=83–99 |chapter=Ibn Khaldun's Political and Economic Realism|doi=10.4324/9780203435977-15 |chapter-url-access=subscription| chapter-url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/mono/10.4324/9780203435977-15/ibn-khaldun-political-economic-realism-laurence-moss?context=ubx&refId=08fba8cc-d49f-4c5a-997d-351b350f4af7}} Pg. 87: ''[[Ibn Khaldun]] drifted away from al-Farabi's  political idealism''.</ref> Whether or not al-Farabi actually intended to outline a political programme in his writings remains a matter of dispute amongst academics. [[Henry Corbin]], who considers al-Farabi to be a <nowiki>crypto-</nowiki>[[Shi'ite]], says that his ideas should be understood as a "prophetic philosophy" instead of being interpreted politically.{{sfn|Corbin|1993|pp=162–163}} On the other hand, [[Charles Butterworth (philosopher)|Charles Butterworth]] contends that nowhere in his work does al-Farabi speak of a prophet-legislator or revelation (even the word philosophy is scarcely mentioned), and the main discussion that takes place concerns the positions of "king" and "statesmen".{{sfn|Butterworth|2005|p=276}} Occupying a middle position is David Reisman, who, like Corbin, believes that al-Farabi did not want to expound a political doctrine (although he does not go so far to attribute it to Islamic Gnosticism either). He argues that al-Farabi was using different types of society as examples, in the context of an ethical discussion, to show what effect correct or incorrect thinking could have.{{sfn|Reisman|2005|p=68}} Lastly, [[Joshua Parens]] argues that al-Farabi was slyly asserting that a [[pan-Islamic]] society could not be made, by using reason to show how many conditions (such as moral and deliberative virtue) would have to be met, thus leading the reader to conclude that humans are not fit for such a society.<ref>Joshua Parens, An Islamic Philosophy of Virtuous Religions: Introducing Alfarabi (New York: State University of New York Press, 2006), 2.</ref> Some other authors such as [[Mykhaylo Yakubovych]] argue that for al-Farabi, religion (''milla'') and philosophy (''falsafa'') constituted the same praxeological value (i.e. basis for ''amal al-fadhil''—"virtuous deed"), while its epistemological level (''ilm''—"knowledge") was different.<ref>Mykhaylo Yakubovych. Al-Farabi's Book of Religion. Ukrainian translation, introduction and comments / Ukrainian Religious Studies Bulletin, 2008, Vol. 47, P. 237.</ref>