Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Tarkhan ibn Uzalagh Al-Farabi (in Persan: محمدفارابی) known in Occident under the names of Alpharabius , Al-Farabi , Farabi , Abunaser or Alfarabi is a medieval Philosophe of origin Persian. Born in 872 with Wasij, village probably attached to the district of Farab, seems it located at the edge of the river Iaxartes (current the Syr-Daria) and pertaining to the large oasis of Otrar disappeared today (on the territory of current the Kazakhstan), in the middle of an area called Transoxiane by the Greek geographers, then Turkestan Occidental by the Russians, it dies in Damas, in Syria in 950. It looks further into all sciences and all arts of its time, and is called the Second teacher of the intelligence

He studies with Baghdad (Iraq). One owes him a comment of the République of Plato, as well as a Sommaire of the Laws of Plato .

Biography

Far from being obscure philosophical medieval, Al-Farabi was called the " Second Maître" by Averroès ( Ibn Roschd ) and Maïmonide, the " First Maître" not being other than Aristote, which, to the eyes of Averroès, passes to have established the glory of philosophy definitively. Al-Farabi is one of the first studied, to comment on and spread among the Arabs the knowledge of Aristote.

Wire of a noble family, in which the father would have exerted a military command at the vassal court türk of the Arab Abbasid caliphate of Baghdad, Abu Nasr Al-Farabi leaves to be formed in the capital califale. With Baghdad (current Iraq), he studies the Grammaire, the Logique, the Philosophie, the Mathématiques, the Musique and the Science S. Al-Farabi there follows the lesson of Abu Bishr Matta Ben Yunus and attends the Christian philosophers nestoriens heirs to the Translatio studiorum of the Greeks towards the Arab world, because of closing of the pagan philosophical schools of Athens by Justinien in 529. This closing marks, one too often forgets it, the end of the Académie of Plato. Always is it that the Platonic Greek philosophers take refuge with Alexandria, with Harran and Antioche in Turkey, before essaimer towards Baghdad. The exodus of the Greek philosophers gives place to intense translations of the Greek in Syriaque and the syriaque one towards the Arab . Al-Farabi will attend some of these translators, like Yuhanna (Johannes) Ben Haylan.

Its eloquence, its talents in the Music and the Poésie reconciled to him the regard of the sultan of Syria, Seïf-ED-Daulah, which wanted to attach it at its court. But Al-Farabi was excused some and left: it was killed by robbers on the way. According to another version, it passed most of its life to the court of Syria, pensioned by the prince.

He was the intellectual guide of Avicenne (indirectly, this one having been born in 980).

In 943, Al-Farabi settles with Alep, then voyage in Egypt, to return to die in Damas in 950.

Work and thought

The thing which it is necessary to keep in mind, when one approaches a philosopher of the Al-Farabi dimension, it is that he is at the same time a philosopher (he works on the texts of Plato and Aristote) and at the same time he lives in a disturbed context, that of the relationship between the Islam and the political successors of the Prophète. The central Califat is parcelled out in emirates and States which want to be independent. It is on this historical bottom and intellectual that it is necessary to take in sight the Al-Farabi texts. Undoubtedly, for the Western intellectual Christian culture is it nourishes difficult to include/understand the details of the science of the religion and the Moslem Droit ( Fiqh ), which structure the details and the discussions which develop within the intellectual life in country of Islam. Naturally, this life could not be monolithic. Al-Farabi, which is an encyclopedic spirit, is interested particularly in the question of the political regime. It is in this way that it will publish a certain number of texts which are comments, or personal syntheses on the philosophy of Plato and Aristote. First of all, one owes him a work relating to “ the Agreement of the Philosophers Plato and Aristote ”, an enumeration of the Dialogs of Plato, a dedicated work with the Opinions of the inhabitants of the virtuous City and a Sommaire of the Laws of Plato .

Although speaking about Aristote (whose moreover medieval Arabs the work on the Policies completely seem to be unaware of), Al-Farabi devotes all its efforts to the political philosophy of Plato: he comments on the Republic and distinguishes two types of teaching: the teaching of Socrate and the teaching of Thrasymaque (the violent character put in scene in the Republic ). The teaching of Socrate is soft and is addressed to the philosophers; but Socrate will perish under the charge of impiété. The teaching of Thrasymaque is a teaching able to handle the opinions and passions which brood in the City. It can as well excite the City as to calm it. It is in these qualities that one finds fiber of the legislator.

Interesting thing, the Al-Farabi style seems T is a style esoteric, or which borrows reasons esoteric (in accordance with numerologic traditions which are widespread everywhere).

External bond

• Card of Al-Farabi, in French
• Al-Farabi and the music Sources, bibliography in musicologie.org.

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