Pizhuhish nāmah-i intiqādī-i mutūn va barnāmah hā-yi ̒ulūm-i insāni (Critical Studies in Texts & Programs of Human Sciences)

Farabi's Plato A critique of Strauss's Reading of Abu Nasr al-Farabi's Treatise Plato's Philosophy

Document Type : Research

Author

Fatemeh Shahidi Marnani

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

https://doi.org/10.30465/crtls.2025.51225.2913
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

Subjects

Farabi (1983 AD), The Acquisition of Happiness, Research and Commentary and Dedicated to J. Al-Yasin, Beirut: Dar Al-Andalus.
Farabi (1997 a), Plato’s Philosophy, in: Plato in Islam, Research and Commentary, A. R. Badawi, Beirut: Dar Al-Andalus.
Farabi (1997 b), Summary of the Al-Nawamis, in: Plato in Islam, Research and Commentary, A. R. Badawi, Beirut: Dar Al-Andalus.
Farabi (2013), Al-Ta’liqat, Introduction, Research, and Correction by S. H. Mousavian, Tehran: Iranian Research Institute for Wisdom and Philosophy.
Strauss, L. (1396), “Sociology of Political Philosophy”, in: Sociology of Political Philosophy, trans. M. Rezvani, Tehran: Islamic Sciences and Culture Research Institute Publications. (In Persian)
Strauss, L. (1400), “Persecution, Persecution, and the Art of Writing”, in: A Political Introduction to Philosophy, 173-190, trans. Y. Jirani, Tehran: Agah. (In Persian)
Strauss, L. (1945), “Farabi's Plato”, in: Louis Ginzberg Jubilee Volume, 357-393, New York: American Academy for Jewish Research.
Strauss, L. (1952), Persecution and the Art of Writing, Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press.
Strauss, L. (1959), “How Fārābī Read Plato’s Laws”, in: What Is Political Philosophy? And Other Studies, 134-155, Glencoe: Free Press.
 
Pizhuhish nāmah-i intiqādī-i mutūn va barnāmah hā-yi ̒ulūm-i insāni (Critical Studies in Texts & Programs of Human Sciences)
Volume 24, Issue 4 - Serial Number 118
Winter 2025
Winter 2025
Pages 241-267

  • Receive Date 14 October 2024
  • Revise Date 09 December 2024
  • Accept Date 20 January 2025

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