Rethinking the Relationship Between Al-Farabi and Plato in the Concept of the Virtuous City
Keywords:
Medina, Utopia, Plato, Farabi, Political ThoughtAbstract
This article examines the Greek roots of Al-Farabi’s political thought concerning the concept of the Virtuous City and aims to explain and analyze the influence of Plato and Aristotle’s political ideas on Al-Farabi. The research method is theoretical in terms of its objective and library-based in terms of data collection. In this study, one of the most important issues in Al-Farabi’s political philosophy—the Virtuous City—is first explained and analyzed, and then its roots in the thought of Plato and Aristotle are traced. The findings indicate that although Al-Farabi is often described as a Platonist, in this regard he was actually influenced by Aristotle. The only similarity between Al-Farabi’s Virtuous City and Plato’s lies in the notion of the philosopher-king or ruler-philosopher. However, the Platonic philosopher is one who perceives the world of Ideas, while according to Al-Farabi, the world of Ideas exists within God’s knowledge. Therefore, Al-Farabi’s Virtuous City cannot be equated with Plato’s, and thus his conception of the Virtuous City either originates from his own intellectual framework or from another source.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Hanieh Mirdrikundi (Author); Hossein Falsafi

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