Al-Farabi's Philosophical Lexicon

Al-Farabi (d. 950 A.D.), was perhaps the most original and influential of all Muslim philosophers of the Middle Ages. His intellectual activity spanned over areas as different as music, medicine, political theory, linguistics, logic, metaphysics, religion and philosophy at large. Great thinkers within the Islamic world from Ibn Bajjah to Ibn Rushd, as well as many outside it, such as Maimonides, St Thomas Aquinas and Spinoza refer to his works with the greatest of deference. Al-Farabi's main contribution is the co-systematization of various spiritual disciplines in Islamic non-traditional culture, using them in a courageous and sophisticated manner for promoting a universalistic world-view. According to this view, different cultures and human groups behave in similar ways given similar circumstances, which is evident in their language, religion, politics and music, among other areas .This edition consists of two volumes: volume one quotes the Arabic text of Al-Farabi's philosophical definitions and those of parallel authors; volume two contains an English translation, an interpretative essay on al-Farabi, and detailed indices.