Philosopher (B. Vesic / Farâb (Otrar) / Kazakhistan,
870 – D.
Farabî completed his
primary school education at Vesic, his birth place. When he was young, he
migrated from Turkistan and travelled in
Although Farabî mainly
dealt with philosophy and was recognized as a philosopher, he naturally
improved himself nearly as much as an expert in other sciences which were
directly or indirectly connected to philosophy. Mathematics and medicine were
just two of his areas of interest. Although he didn’t make practice in medicine,
his knowledge on medicine was deep. Music is a branch of art and science where
Farabî is considered an expert both in practical and in theoretical sense. So
it’s understood that, Farabî had education on philosophy, mathematics, music,
logic, chemistry and medicine. Farabî is also the inventor of oud, the famous
musical instrument of Turkish music.
Farabî
learnt Arabic during his educational life in Farab and dealt with sufism in
Buhara.
Farabî,
through “Baghdad School” he was a member of, introduced Aristotle’s logic to
the Islamic culture world, made arrangements allowing to separate philosophy
and theology and separated philosophy from theology and made great
contributions towards its being an individual discipline in the history of Islamic
thought. Theology, which is called as “kalam” in the Islamic literature, was
kept separately only with respect to methodology in the philosophy of Farabî.
The difference between them is methodological rather than structural.
According
to Farabî, logic is a starting point and preliminary for pure philosophy. The
philosophy is divided into two parts as physics and metaphysics. Physics covers
special sciences (the psychology involving also the theory of knowledge).
Metaphysics consists of the philosophy of physics and theoretical philosophy.
It also involves ethics and morality. Farabî aimed at reconciling his syncretic
(combining opposing beliefs) philosophy with Islamic doctrine. He also attributed
great importance to the spiritual purity and grounded his philosophical thought
on it. In other words, Farabî deserves the title of the founder of “rational
mysticism” in the history of Islamic philosophy. He advised reaching
conclusions through mathematics and logic in the researches on natural and mental
sciences. Since philosophy is the science of all beings, the one who reaches
the being resembles the God. Since Farabî made a synthesis of several systems
possibly reconcilable, he followed an eclectic (and conciliating) methodology.
He is accepted as an authority (someone with the power of sanction) of
philosophy.
According to Farabî, the science obtained with close (related) evidences
is the most preceding and most superior of all sciences, and other sciences are
governed by it. This science constitutes the final happiness. All that this
science involves has been determined in the Greek language. It is certainly
called as mystery (wisdom) and its love as the philosophy...
The books
about Farabî were written by the authors of Islamic world such as Ebul Hasan el-Beyhaki,
İbn-el-Kıfti, İbn bu Useybiye, İbn el-Hallikan several
centuries after the death of Farabî. However, rather than being researches,
these works were collecting myths about Farabî and describing a saint rather
than a philosopher... A portrait of Farabî takes place on the back of the
İhsan’l-Ulum
(In the work, the sciences are divided into five: 1) Linguistics and its branches, 2) Logic and its branches,
3) Teaching Sciences: Number, Mathematics,
Astronomy, Music, Weight Units and Measure
Sciences, 4) Natural Sciences, Theology and its branches, 5) "Civil"
Sciences and its branches: Fiqh and Kalam.), Commentary on the Posterior Analytics, Commentary on the Prior Analytics, Commentary on the Eisagoge,
Commentary on the Topics, Commentary on the Sophistica, Commentary on the
Categories, A Pamphlet on Obligatory and Physical Prologues and On Propositions
and Syllogisms Used By All Sciences (These are the articles and books transferring
into Arabic, explaining and interpreting the Aristotle’s logic and Greek
philosophy and the works incorporating his own opinions especially in the
fields of logic, metaphysics and the philosophy of politics. The names of the
books were given with their English translations.), Philosophy of Plato,
Philosophy of Aristotle), Inventory of Sciences (Together with these two
works, most comprehensive one of the works in Arabic which are introductory for
Aristotleism and Platonism), Kitabu's-Sema, el-Asaru'l-Ulviyye, Kitabu'l-Meadin, Kitabu'n-Nebat, Kitabu'n-Nefs, Kitabu's-Sıhha ve'l-Maraz, Kitabu'l-Hayat ve'l-Mevt, Kitabu'l-Hiss ve'l-Mahsus ve Kitabu Hareketi'l-Hayavan (Works on
physics and cosmology.), Telhisu Nevamisi Eflâtun (Summary of the Laws of Plato), Felsefetu Eflâtun (Philosophy of Plato
and el-Cem' Beyne Ra’yayi’l-Hakimeyn (Correlation of the Opinions of Two Philosophers), İhsau’l-Ulum
(Inventory of Sciences),
Kitabu’l-Cedel (Dialectic),
Kitabu’l-Burhan (Book on Proof), Kitabu’s-Siyaseti’l-Medeniyye (Book
on Human Behaviour), Tahsilu’s-Saade (Gaining the Happiness), el-Medinetü’i-Fazıla
(The Virtuous City), Fususu’l-Medeni
(The Philosophy of Politics), Kitabu’l-Huruf (Book of Letters-Philosophy of Language), El-Cem Beyne Rayeyi’l-Hakimeyn (Comparison of the
philosophies of Plato and Aristotle), İhsau’l-Ulum
(Inventory
of Sciences),
Kitabu’l-Huruf (Philosophy of Language), Ta’likat (In this work, Farabi tells that all creatures have come into existence
through overflowing from God), Tahsilu’s-Saade (Gaining the Happiness), Medinetü’l-Fadıla (Rather, it is a
work on political science and sociology.),
Risâle fî Kavniîni Sına’ati’ş’Şir (Pamphlet
on the Laws of the Art of Poem).