The Political Writings - (Agora Editions) Annotated by Alfarabi (Paperback)

About the Book

Alfarabi (ca. 870-950) founded the great tradition of Aristotelian/Platonic political philosophy in medieval Islamic and Arabic culture. In this second volume of political writings, Charles E. Butterworth presents translations of Alfarabi's Political Regime and Summary of Plato's "Laws," accompanied by introductions that discuss the background...

Book Synopsis

Butterworth richly deserves to be congratulated for providing advanced students and scholars with authoritative, reliable, and readable translations of Alfarabi's important political writings. â- Choice

Alfarabi (ca. 870-950) founded the great tradition of Aristotelian/Platonic political philosophy in medieval Islamic and Arabic culture. In this second volume of political writings, Charles E. Butterworth presents translations of Alfarabi's Political Regime and Summary of Plato's Laws, accompanied by introductions that discuss the background for each work and explore its teaching.

In addition, the texts are carefully annotated to aid the reader in following Alfarabi's argument. An Arabic-English/English-Arabic glossary allows interested readers to verify the way particular words are translated. Throughout, Butterworth's method is to translate consistently the same Arabic word by the same English word, rendering Alfarabi's style in an unusually faithful and yet approachable manner.

Review Quotes

Accurate and very readable.... [Butterworth] was a student of Muhsin Mahdi, the leading scholar of Alfarabi of our time (and perhaps of all time), whose many editions, translations, and studies of Alfarabi's writings have enriched our understanding of this most influential philosopher. Butterworth is Mahdi's intellectual heir.... We are much indebted to Butterworth, who has undertaken this mission with admirable responsibility.

-- "Speculum"

Butterworth brilliantly combines in one volume the theoretical agenda of the Political Regime and the practical concerns of the Summary. This volume is an excellent contribution to Alfarabi scholarship and should be most welcome to anyone interested in Islamic philosophy.

-- "The Review of Politics"

Butterworth here offers... a commendable, skilled rendition of the Summary of Plato's Laws.

-- "Journal of the History of Philosophy"

Butterworth richly deserves to be congratulated for providing advanced students and scholars with authoritative, reliable, and readable translations of Alfarabi's important political writings.

-- "Choice"

Butterworth's splendid introduction to the first of these two texts provides the best introduction to Alfarabi's metaphysics that one is likely to find. In briefly sketching the life of Alfarabi, he also draws attention to the often forgotten major centers of learning in the ancient world.

-- "The Review of Metaphysics"

The translation on the whole is clear and very readable.... Readers with neither knowledge of Arabic nor familiarity with al-Farabi's writings will find the text easy to understand and follow, and the book will be useful for students.

-- "Journal of Islamic Studies"

About the Author

Charles E. Butterworth is Emeritus professor of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland, College Park.