An Islamic Philosophy of Virtuous Religions: Introducing Alfarabi

Contents

Acknowledgments vii Abbreviations ix Chapter 1 Introduction 1 Alfarabi’s Life and His Influence 3 Alfarabi’s Manner of Writing 5 Overview 7 Chapter 2 The Impossibility of the City in the Republic 9 Kallipolis as Ideal State or Totalitarian Nightmare? 12 The Three Waves and the Problem of Possibility 14 The First Wave 17 The Second Wave 19 The Digression on War 22 The Third Wave 24 Chapter 3 The A Fortiori Argument 29 Alfarabi on the Republic in the Attainment of Happiness: Educating Philosopher-kings to Rule the Inhabited World, the Challenge 30 Tension in the “Unity of the Virtues”: Hard vs. Soft 38 The Uneasy Peace between Prudence and Wisdom 47 Chapter 4 Alfarabi on Jihâd 55 From îmân vs. kufr to islâm vs. Óharb 58 Alfarabi’s Aphorisms on Jihâd 60 Aphorisms 67 and 79 61 Aphorisms 11–16 64 Aphorisms 68–76 67 Contents vi An Islamic Philosophy of Virtuous Religions Alfarabi’s Attainment of Happiness on Jihâd 72 Challenges to Compelling Good Character 74 Chapter 5 The Multiplicity Argument 77 The Increasing Tendency toward Conquest and Domination 80 The Task of Deliberation: Shaping a Multiplicity of Characters 85 The Task of Theoretical Virtue: Shaping a Multiplicity of Opinions 93 Religion as an Imitation of Philosophy 97 Chapter 6 The Limits of Knowledge and the Problem of Realization 103 Knowledge and Exploitation 104 Attainment of Happiness 105 The Philosophy of Aristotle: The Limits of Our Knowledge of Final Causes 108 Certainty and the Knowledge of Universals and Particulars 115 The Limits of Knowledge and the Inherent Multiplicity of Religion 121 Notes 125 Bibliography 155 Subject/Author Index 159 Index of Passages from Alfawarabi’s Attainment of Happiness 169 ...