In this article we study the meaning of life in the
philosophy of Abu Nasr Farabi in English for the first time, in
contrast to familiar works discussing his contributions to
philosophy of religion, philosophical anthropology, and
political philosophy. We present the findings in relation to
contemporary literature in the field of the meaning of life and
the divisions made by analytic philosophers. In Farabi’s
philosophy, there is a fundamental connection between
theism and true happiness (Sa'ada…
Read moreIn this article we study the meaning of life in the
philosophy of Abu Nasr Farabi in English for the first time, in
contrast to familiar works discussing his contributions to
philosophy of religion, philosophical anthropology, and
political philosophy. We present the findings in relation to
contemporary literature in the field of the meaning of life and
the divisions made by analytic philosophers. In Farabi’s
philosophy, there is a fundamental connection between
theism and true happiness (Sa'adat) based on the knowledge
of the soul and its immortality. As a philosopher who believes
in God and the immortal soul, Farabi designs a system based
on which man's worldly life becomes meaningful given the
supreme goal of achieving good fortune in the afterlife and in
connection with God. We characterize Farabi's approach as a
supernaturalist (against naturalist) theory involving both God
and a soul (against only one of these) that is based on the
discovery (against error theory) of a single meaning in life
(against pluralism), built upon objectivism (against
subjectivism), action-guiding (against knowledge merely for
its own sake), and holist (against partialism).
