A farabi’s | Philosophy of. © Plato and Aristotle HE FREE PRESS OF GLENCOEANNOUNCING A NEW SERIES OF BOOKS FROM THE FREE PRESS OF GLENCOE Agora Editions GENERAL EDITOR: ALLAN BLOOM Published Rousseau: Politics and the Arts To be Published Plato: The Lesser Dialogues, 3 volumes NEWLY TRANSLATED AND EDITED BY SETH BENARDETE AND ALLAN BLOOM Montesquieu: The Greatness of the Romans and Their Decadence NEWLY TRANSLATED AND EDITED BY DAVID LOWENTHAL Nietzsche: Thoughts out of Season NEWLY TRANSLATED AND EDITED BY WERNER J. DANNHAUSER The Anti-Federalist Writings EDITED BY HERBERT STORING Reader in Medieval Political Philosophy EDITED BY RALPH LERNER AND MUHSIN MAHDIB7S3 + F33 P53 1962 by The Free Press of Glencoe, a Division of The Macmillan Company Printed in the United States of America [All rights in this book are reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, address: ‘The Free Press of Glencoe A Division of The Macmillian Company, ‘The Crowell-Collier Publishing Company 60 Fifth Avenue, New York 11 DESIGNED BY BERNARD SCHLEIFER Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 62-1856 FOREWORD ‘The Agora Editions welcomes the addition of Dr. Mahdi’s translation of Alfarabi to its list. The Philosophy of Plato and Aristotle is one of the most authoritative commentaries on these two authors and has never been available in its entirety in English. It is of incomparable value not only for the understanding of Arabic thought but also for an authentic interpretation of Plato and Aristotle. This book goes to the origins of modern philosophy; and it is to be hoped that its publication will mark the beginning of a general interest in the Arabic view of ancient thought which is so often mentioned but so rarely studied. It is of interest to the serious student of philosophy as well as to the historian. ‘The translation is of the highest degree of accuracy consistent with intelligibility. Hence the reader can judge of Alfarabi's thought with confidence that he is not studying the modern thought of the translator. Thus we continue our policy of presenting un- available classics of political thought in scholarly translations. ALLAN BLOOM, General Editor of the Agora Editions ix