An Islamic philosophy of virtuous religions : introducing Alfarabi / Joshua Parens.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Parens, Joshua, 1961-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Fārābī.

Islamic philosophy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (182 p.)

Place of Publication:

Albany : State University of New York Press, c2006.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

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.

Contents:

Introduction

Alfarabi's life and his influence

Alfarabi's manner of writing

Overview

The impossibility of the city in the Republic

Kallipolis as ideal state or totalitarian nightmare?

The three waves and the problem of possibility

The first wave

The second wave

The digression on war

The third wave

The a fortiori argument

Alfarabi on the Republic in the Attainment of happiness : educating philosopher-kings to rule the inhabited world, the challenge

Tension in the "unity of the virtues" : hard vs. soft

The uneasy peace between prudence and wisdom

Alfarabi on jihâd

From îmân vs. kufr to Islâm vs. harb

Alfarabi's Aphorisms on Jihâd

Aphorisms 67 and 79

Aphorisms 11-16

Aphorisms 68-76

Alfarabi's Attainment of happiness on Jihâd

Challenges to compelling good character

The multiplicity argument

The increasing tendency toward conquest and domination

The task of deliberation : shaping a multiplicity of characters

The task of theoretical virtue : shaping a multiplicity of opinions

Religion as an imitation of philosophy

The limits of knowledge and the problem of realization

Knowledge and exploitation

Attainment of happiness

The Philosophy of Aristotle : the limits of our knowledge of final causes

Certainty and the knowledge of universals and particulars

The limits of knowledge and the inherent multiplicity of religion.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 155-158) and index.

ISBN:

9780791482124

079148212X

9781429411776

1429411775

OCLC:

461443012