A Comparative Study of al-Fārābī’s and Ibn Sīnā’s Thought on the Role of Society in Human Happiness

Articles in Press

Document Type : Scholarly Article

Authors
mousa abdollahinasab
Seyyed ahmad hossinee
Azarbaijan Shahid Madani University
10.30497/ap.2025.248835.1753
Abstract
Abstract

Happiness, as the ultimate goal of human life, constitutes one of the most fundamental questions in Islamic philosophy. The Peripatetic philosophers, inspired by the Greek intellectual heritage and grounded in Islamic epistemological and religious principles, endeavored to provide a rational and systematic account of the relationship between the individual, society, and happiness. Within this framework, al-Fārābī and Ibn Sīnā, as two eminent representatives of the school, each approached the nexus of society and happiness in distinct ways. Al-Fārābī considered society an indispensable condition for attaining happiness. In his political and philosophical writings—most notably Opinions of the People of the Virtuous City—he regarded happiness as the ultimate telos of human life and introduced society as the necessary foundation for its realization. By contrast, Ibn Sīnā largely conceived of society as a means to livelihood and the satisfaction of human needs. On the one hand, al-Fārābī, through his idealistic vision and formulation of the virtuous city, viewed society as the cornerstone of human happiness; on the other hand, Ibn Sīnā, with his emphasis on livelihood and theoretical intellect, sought happiness less in social structures and more in the cultivation of reason and individual knowledge. Moreover, the two philosophers exhibit significant divergences in their accounts of the methods of attaining happiness, the mechanisms for realizing virtues, and the degree of emphasis placed on the rational, ethical, and religious dimensions of society. This study, by elucidating these fundamental differences, offers a new horizon for understanding the relationship between individual happiness and social structure in Islamic philosophy.

Keywords: Happiness; Society; al-Fārābī; Ibn Sīnā; Virtuous City
Keywords
Happiness
Society
al-Fārābī
Ibn Sīnā
Virtuous City
Subjects
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