Al-Farabi
872 – 950 Central Asian philosopher
The Second Teacher after Aristotle, who systematized philosophy in Islam.
- Religion
- Muslim; he sought to harmonize Plato, Aristotle, and Islam.
- Affiliations
- Scholar in Baghdad and Damascus. No secret society.
Al-Farabi built a comprehensive philosophy joining Greek metaphysics and logic to Islamic thought and a theory of the ideal state. He was so respected that later scholars called him the Second Teacher, after Aristotle. Avicenna and others built directly on his work.
Connections
- influenced Avicenna — Avicenna credited Al-Farabi with unlocking Aristotle for him.