Document Type : Research

Author

• Fatemeh Shahidi Marnani

Assistant Professor of Islamic Philosophy, Faculty Member, Iranian Research Institute of Wisdom and Philosophy, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

In his treatise on Plato's philosophy, Al-Farabi says that in Plato's view, human perfection and happiness depend on a certain science and a particular way of life. This science is philosophy, and that way is politics or kingship. Strauss, on the one hand, considers the main issue of this treatise to be the relation between philosophy and politics, and on the other hand, because he considered al-Farabi, a secret writer, claims the unity of philosophy and politics, which is stated in the treatise, to be an exoteric teaching that hides his central and esoteric teaching, namely the proper distinction between philosophy and politics, and also principality of philosophy. He considers the only relationship between philosophy and politics to be the adoption of methods by the philosopher to stay safe from social and religious persecution. Two types of errors in Strauss' reading of Al-Farabi's treatise are: first, the fundamental errors of assuming Al-Farabi's steganography as a given and making it the basis for interpreting the text, and second, the suggestion of some misreadings of Al-Farabi's statements that stem from the assumption of a conflict between philosophy and religion and also Al-Farabi's steganography. In Strauss's interpretation, the inherent difficulties of philosophy are dissolved and reduced to the difficulties of life in a political community.

Keywords

• Strauss
• Farabi
• Steganography
• Philosophy and Politics
• Science and Ethics
• Happiness

Main Subjects

• Philosophy