Abu Nasr al-Farabi · Philosophy

The Virtuous City

al-Farabi&rsquo;s political masterpiece: the <em>excellent city</em> (<em>al-Madina al-Fadila</em>), modelled on the healthy body and the ordered cosmos, ruled by a philosopher who has reached the truth - and the ignorant, wicked, and errant cities that are his diagnoses of every way a community can fail.

What you'll be able to recall

You learned that al-Farabi&rsquo;s excellent city is built on cooperation for a shared end - true happiness - and is ordered like a healthy body under its ruling organ; that its first ruler must be a philosopher (and prophet); and that its failures fall into ignorant, wicked, and errant cities. Explain these ideas in…

Leads to Plato.

Begin this lesson →
← All lessons on Abu Nasr al-Farabi

epoché — a humanities education that remembers you.