Who are you looking for?

Install Famoose

Keep Famoose on your home screen or desktop for easy access.

Open this site in Chrome or Edge and look for Install app in the browser menu or address bar. If no install option appears, you can bookmark Famoose instead.

Famoose.co
Appearance
Text size
Page width
Colour
Discover›Philosophy & belief
Contents
Al-Farabi
Philosopher

Al-Farabi

Famoose for

Connecting Greek philosophy with Arabic thought on logic, society and knowledge.

The Virtuous City · Enumeration of the Sciences

Born
c. 870
Birthplace
Central Asia; exact birthplace disputed
Died
950

More people

Simone de BeauvoirWriting The Second Sex, a foundational work of feminist thought.Immanuel KantReshaping philosophy’s accounts of knowledge, moral duty and human freedom.Mary WollstonecraftArguing that women deserve an education grounded in reason and equality.

Al-Farabi

Al-Farabi was a philosopher and music theorist active in the medieval Islamic world.

Early life

Uncertain origins

Early biographical details and ethnic background are disputed.

Intellectual setting

Studied within the scholarly world that translated and developed Greek philosophy in Arabic.

Career

  1. Early 10th century

    Baghdad

    Worked in a centre of philosophical and scientific study.

  2. 10th century

    Philosophical writing

    Developed works on logic, knowledge and political life.

  3. Later years

    Syria

    Spent time in the region before his death in Damascus.

Ideas & writings

The Virtuous City

Examined the organisation of a society directed towards human flourishing.

Enumeration of the Sciences

Classified fields of knowledge.

Great Book of Music

Explored musical theory in detail.

Legacy

Music

His work treated music as both a theoretical and practical subject.

Later influence

Became an important reference for subsequent philosophers including Avicenna.

Sources & photo creditLife, career and references ↗Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy ↗

Photo: Mr.Nostalgic. Public domain · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.