Al-Farabi on Logical Tradition

Author(s): Nicholas Rescher

Source: Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 24, No. 1 (Jan. - Mar., 1963), pp. 127-132
Published by: University of Pennsylvania Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2707863 .
Accessed: 21/06/2014 17:11

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

University of Pennsylvania Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to
Journal of the History of Ideas.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 195.78.108.37 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 17:11:35 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 AL-FARABI ON LOGICAL TRADITION

BY NICHOLAS RESCHER 1

I. Introduction
AlthoughAbuiNasr al-FarTbi (c. 873-950) has always been recognized
as one of the mostimportantphilosophersof Islam, his fullstatureis coming
to be appreciatedonly recently,as his numerousworksare graduallybeing
publishedand studied.2Al-Farmibdevoted more effortto logic than to any
othersingle branchof philosophyor science,3and he deservesto be classi-
fledas the firstspecialistin logical studiesamongthe Arabic-speakingpeo-
ples.4 Much of his logical work survives and is beginningto attract the
attentionof scholars,5 althougha great deal remainsto be done. For regret-
tably, al-FarTbi's logic has attracteda disproportionatelysmall amount of
attention,as contrastedwith his writingson otherseeminglymore alluring
subjects such as politics and religion.
I wish in this paper to presenta perhapsunique discussionby al-FTrabi
on the subject of the historyof logical studies. This discussionpossesses
especial interestbecause it sheds importantlighton how al-FarTbi viewed
the continuityof the logical traditionfromthe Athens of Aristotleto the
Baghdad of his own day.
The text with which I am concernedis actually one of the firstof al-
Farabi's writingsto see the light of print in the original Arabic.6 In his
classic monographon al-Farabi, publishedin 1869,7Moritz Steinschneider
printed (in an Appendix) the Arabic text of two substantial extractsfrom
the logical writingsof al-FarTbi as quoted fromthe great medical history
of Ibn Abi Usaibica.8The firstof these extractsis taken fromthe sectionon
1 Thispaperis partofa seriesofstudiesrelatingto Arabiccontributionsto logic
supportedby a researchgrantfromthe NationalScienceFoundationwhichthe
authoracknowledges gratefully.
2 For a surveyof published workby and about al-FarTbisee N. Rescher,Al-
Farabi: An Annotated Bibliography (UniversityofPittsburghPress,1962).
3 See AhmetAtes,"Farabi bibliografyasi," Turk Ta7ihKurumuBelleten(An-
kara), XV (1951), 175-192.
4 N. Rescher,"The Development of ArabicLogic: The FirstCentury(c. 800-c.
900 A.D.)." To be published.
6The important contributions of D. M. Dunlopcall forespecialmention:"Al-
FarTbi'sIntroductory Sectionson Logic,"TheIslamicQuarterly, II (1955),264-282;
"Al-Far5bi'sEisagoge,"ibid.,III (1956), 117-138;"Al-FArbhi's Paraphraseof the
Categories ofAristotle," ibid.,IV (1958), 168-197,and V (1959),21-54.
6 In fact,it is the firstbut fortwo treatisesby al-FarTbipuiblished by F. A.
Schmoelders in hisDocumentaPhilosophiae Arabum(Bonn,1836).
7 "Al-Farabi(Alpharabius):Des arabischen PhilosophenLebenund Schriften,"
Memoiresde l'Academie ImperialedesSciencesde St. Petersbourg,VIIe serie,vol.8,
no. 4 (St. Petersbourg, 1869).
8cUyin al-anba'fi tabaqJtal-tibba'("The sourcesof information about the
classesof physicians"). Steinschneider givesthetextson 208-209and 211-213.They
becameavailablein a markedly superiorversionwhentheworkofIbn Abi U$aibica
was editedby AugustMiiller,I, Cairo, 1882 (text only), II, Konigsberg, 1884
(notes).
127

This content downloaded from 195.78.108.37 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 17:11:35 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 128 NICHOLAS RESCHER

logic of al-FarTbi's Ihsa' al-cultim("Inventoryof the Sciences") long famil-

iar in its medieval Latin formas De Scientiis firstpublishedin Venice in
1546,9and of late available in a magisterialedition by M. Alonso.10But
it is with the second of the two extractsthat we shall now be concerned.
Our text with whichwe shall be dealing is an excerptfromal FarTbi's
treatise"On the Appearance of Philosophy,"11 and is, so far as we know,
the onlypart of this workto survive.About half of this textwas translated
into German and discussed by Max Meyerhofin his superb study of the
movementof Greek philosophyand science fromAlexandriato Baghdad.12
Althoughthe presentdiscussionthus, to some extent,inevitably overlaps
that of Meyerhof,our interestis quite different fromMeyerhof'sproblem
of how Greek learningreached the Arabs. Instead, our objective is to ex-
amine al-FarTbi's discussion with a view to the informationit provides
regardingthe historyof logical studies in Islam itself. The ensuing two
sections of this paper will presenta translationof al-FarTbi's discussion,
followed by a survey of the principal materials which it affordsto the
historianof logic.

II. A Fragmentfromal-F&ribi's Treatise "On the

Appearance of Philosophy"13
Abu Nasr al-FarTbi relates in [his treatise] "On the Appearance of
Philosophy" (ft zuhu~ral-falsafah) that whose substance is this. He says
that instructionin philosophybecame widespreadin the days of the Greek
kings, and afterthe death of Aristotle [was pursued] at Alexandria until
the end of the days of the woman [Cleopatra?]. And [he said] that after
Aristotledied instruction[in philosophy] remainedthere [in Alexandria]
in the same state until the end of the reignof thirteenkings,duringwhose
reign therewere twelve teachers [successively] in charge of philosophical
instruction,one of them being known as Andronicus[of Rhodes].
Now the last of these rulerswas the woman [i.e., Cleopatra]. But she
was conqueredby Augustus,the ruler of the Romans, who foughtagainst
9Avicennaecompendium de anima... Ab AndreaAlpagoex arabicoin latinum
versa.Venetiis, 1546.Pp. 1436-1446givea Latintranslation of al-Farabl'streatise,
erroneously attributed to Avicenna.
10 Manuel A. Alonso(ed.), DomingoGundisalvo (tr.): De Scientiis(Madrid,
1954).
11So-calledby Ibn Abi Usaibica:ifzuhiur
al-falsafah.
But thismaywellbe iden-
ticalwiththetreatiseknownto theArabicbibliographers as Kitabfiismal-falsafah
wa-sababzuhuzri-hd ("On thenameof 'philosophy' and on the causeof its appear-
ance"). (See thebibliography ofAtes.)
12 Max Meyerhof, "VonAlexandrien nachBaghdad:Ein BeitragzurGeschichte
des philosophischen und medizinischen Unterrichtsbei den Arabern,"Sitzungs-
berichteder Preussischen Akademieder Wissenschaften,Philosophisch-Historische
Klasse (Berlin,1930),389-429.For ourtextsee 393-394and 405-406.Andsee also
Meyerhof's paper on "La Fin de 1'Rcoled'Alexandrie d'apres quelquesAuteurs
Arabes,"Bulletinde l'Institutd'JZgypte,XV (1932-1933),109-123(especially114-
118).
13 FromtheArabictextof Ibn Abi Usaibiea,CUyjinal-anba' tftabaqatal-tibba'
("Die ReihenderArtzte"),ed. AugustMuller,I, (Cairo,1882),frompage 134,line
30 to page 135,line24.

This content downloaded from 195.78.108.37 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 17:11:35 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 AL-FARABI ON LOGICAL TRADITION 1229

them [the Greeks in Egypt, presumably] and overpoweredtheirkingdom.

When he had establishedhimself,he investigatedthe (Alexandrian)Library
and its facilities.He foundin it copies of the books of Aristotlewhich had
been copied in his (Aristotle's) days and in the days of Theophrastus.He
also foundthat the teachersand philosophershad writtenbooks about the
subjectswithwhichAristotleconcernedhimselfin them (i.e., in his writings).
Thus he orderedthe copyingof these books which had been writtendown
in the days of Aristotleand his pupils, and [he ordered] that therebe in-
structionin these works,and that the rest be abandoned. And he decided
upon Andronicusto be in chargeof this enterprise.He orderedhim (Andron-
icus) to have copies made forhim to take with him to home and copies to
remain in the place of instructionat Alexandria. And he orderedhim to
designatesome scholarto take his place at Alexandria and himselfto come
with him to Rome. Thus there came to be instruction[in philosophy] in
two places.
Things went along thus until Christianitycame. Then the instruction
was stopped at Rome, but remainedat Alexandriauntil the Christianking
[Constantine?] looked into the matter,and assembled the bishops to de-
liberateabout what should be leftalone in this instructionand what should
be stopped. They were of the opinion that there should be instructionin
the books of logic up to the end of the assertoric[i.e., non-modal] figures
and that there be no instructionin what comes after that. The reason
forthis is that they were of the opinionthat in this [latter part of logic]
therewas harmforChristianity, but that in what theyadmittedforinstruc-
tion there was somethinghelpful towards the victory of their religion.
Consequentlythe public (exoteric) part of the instructionremainedwithin
this prescribedlimit,and whateverwas examined of the rest was studied
privately,until Islam came a long time afterwards.
Then [i.e., after the rise of Islam] the instructionwas moved from
Alexandria to Antioch and remained there for a long time until at last
but one teacher remained. With him there studied two men, and they
moved away taking the books with them. Now one of them was of the
people of Harran, and the otlherof the people of Marw. As to the one of the
people of Marw, there studied with him two men, one of whom was
IbrThimal-Marwazi and the otherYfihanna ibn Hailan. With al-Marwazi
studied the bishop Isracll and Quwairl, both whom went to Baghdad. Now
Ibrahim [sic. in errorforIsracll] occupiedhimselfwithreligion,but Quwairi
took up instruction.As forYuihanndibn Hailan, he also occupied himself
withhis [i.e., Christian] religion.IbrThimal-Marwazi wentdown to Bagh-
dad and settled there. With al-Marwazi studied Matta ibn Yuinan [i.e.,
AbfiBishr Matta ibn Yfinus].
That whichwas taught [in logic] at that timewas up to the end of the
assertoricfigures[of the syllogism].But Aba Nasr al-FarTbi says about
himselfthat he studied with Yfihanna ibn Hailan up to the end of Anal.
Post. (kitab al-burhan). The part [of the two Analytics] whichcomes after
the assertoricfigures(of the syllogism [i.e., which comes after Anal. Pr.,
I, 7]) was called "the part which is not read" [i.e., in the lecture-curricu-
lum] until [the timewhen] one read that; forit became standard [in logical
study] afterwards.When the matter came to Muslim teachers one read
fromthe assertoricfiguresas far as a man was able to read. And thus

This content downloaded from 195.78.108.37 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 17:11:35 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
130 NICHOLAS RESCHER

AbuiNasr [al-Frabil] says thathe himselfread [i.e.,undera teacher]up

to theendofAnal.Post.

AbuiYahya al-Marwazi
(c. 840-c. 910)

Ibrahimal-Marwazi YuhannaibnHailan
(c. 850-c.920) (c. 860-c.920)

Aba Bishr MattS ibu Yiinus _ Al-FarTbi

(c. 870-c.940) (c. 873-950)

III. Al-Fdrdbi'sReportsRegardingthe Historyof Logic

Al-Farabidividesthehistoricaldevelopment of logicalstudiesintofive
principaleras:
I. Early Greektimes(Aristotle and his immediate successors).
II. Alexandriantimes prior to a supposed"purification" effectedby
Augustus.
III. Romansupremacy untilthecomingof Christianity.
IV. Christiansupremacy untilthe comingof Islam.
V. Islamictimes.
Al-Fraibl'sinformationregarding periodsI-III is at timesmythicalin
character.One cannotbutwonder, forexample,abouthissourcesforcredit-
ingAugustusfortransplanting philosophical and logicalstudiesfromAlex-
andriato Romeunderthesupervision ofAndronicus ofRhodes!
On the otherhand,thereis everyreasonto regardas accurate-within
its own narrowlimits-al-FarTbh's reportsabout the historyof logical
studiesduringperiodsIV and V. Abundantevidencein supportofthisview
is givenin Max Meyerhof's magisterialmonograph "VonAlexandrien Nach
Baghdad"citedabove.We knowtoo fromthemagnificent researchesof G.
BergstrasserhowcloselyArabicscholarship oftheIXth century was linked
withHellenistic schoolsofAlexandria,
medico-philosophical and howmuch
the traditionsof Alexandrialived on in the Syriacmilieuin whichal-
Faribl's teacherswerenurtured.14
attachesto al-FarTbi'saccountof the personaliaof
Particularinterest
logicalstudiesin Islam, and especiallyhis own teachers.We are able to
14 See especially
GotthelfBergstraisser,
"IHunain und
ibnIsh.aqiiberdie syrischen
arabischen Abhandlungen
Galen-tYbersetzungen," fiurdie Kunde des Morgenlandes,
XVII (1925),no. 2. Hunainis stillable to givedetailedinformationaboutthe dif-
ferencesand similarities
of programsand practicesin philosophico-medicalinstruc-
tionin theAlexandrian and theNestorian
institutes academiesof histime.

This content downloaded from 195.78.108.37 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 17:11:35 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 AL-FARABI ON LOGICAL TRADITION 131

supplementhis own statementsfromothersources,with the followingresult

regardingthe "genealogy" of master-and-pupilkinship.'5
All of al-Fraibl's teachersare identifiablepersonsabout whose life and
workwe possessconsiderableinformation. We are thus fullyand reliablyin-
formedregardingthe originsof the logico-philosophical"School of Bagh-
dad" which was to be Avicenna's pet aversion a centurylater.'6 The most
curious feature of al-Fdrdbl's account of how logic came to Islam is its
uttersilence on the (in fact pre-eminent)role of Hunain ibn Ishaq and his
associates in the processesof translationand transmission.I thinkthat this
is only partially explained in termsof the egocentricfocus upon his own
intellectualantecedents,whichis so importantto establishthe "authority"
of a teacherin medieval Islam. More important,I believe,is that al-FarTbi
does not view logic as a matterof books and documentsbut as a livingoral
traditionof logical specialization and expertise.From this standpointof
logic viewed as a livingdisciplineof specialized expertisechannelledthrough
a continuousoral traditiontransmittedfroma masterto the scholarswho
"read" the canonical texts under his guidance,'7 it is quite possible that
al-FarTbi answersthe question of "How Greek logic reached the Arabs?"
not only correctly,but comprehensively as well.
Unquestionablythe most interestingfacet of al-Fraibl's account is the
light it sheds upon the study of Aristotle's logic among the Christian
scholars,primarilyNestorians,who carriedGreek logic fromAlexandriato
Baghdad in the IXth century.It has longbeen recognizedthat the Christian
studentsof Aristotelianlogic in the Syriac and (earliest) Arabic setting
broke offtheirstudy of "the eight books" of Aristotelianlogic (Porphyry's
Isagoge, Categoriae,De Interpretatione, AnalyticaPriora,AnalyticaPoster-
iora, Topica, Soph. Elen., Rhetorica) in the middle of the Prior Analytics,
stoppingaftersection7 of Book 1.18 In consequenceof this animus against
15For manyfurther articlecitedin fn.4 above,as wellas
detailssee thewriter's
its successor:"The Development ofArabicLogic,II: The FirstFlowering (c. 900-
c. 1000 A.D.)." The tabulationhere givenlists onlythe men referred to in al-
FArAbl's account;a greatdeal moreis knownabouthisownteachers, and thoseof
hisprincipal AbfiBishrMattaibnYfinus.Muchofthisinformation
teacher, is sum-
marizedin Max Meyerhof's monograph, "VonAlexandrien Nach Baghdad."
16SolomonPines"La 'Philosophine Orientale'd'Avicenneet sa Polemiquecontre
les Baghdadiens," Archivesd'HistoireDoctrinaleet Litteraire du MoyenAge,XIX
(1952), 5-37.
17 Al-FdrTbiis reported to have "read" Aristotle'sPhysicsfortytimesand his
Rhetorictwohundred times-a reportto whichHegelreactedwiththeobservation
that al-Farabi"musthave had a strongstomach."F. Rosenthal, "The Technique
and Approachof MuslimScholarship," XXIV (1947), 74 pp.;
AnalectaOrientalia,
see p. 4. This reportdoesnotmeanthatal-Farabireadtheseworksso frequently
forhis privateedification, as Hegelunderstood it to say,but thathe gave regular
coursesof explanatory lectureson them.
18 See MoritzSteinschneider, Die ArabischenUbersetzungen aus dem Griech-
ischen,in theXII Beiheftzum Centralblatt furBibliothekswesen (Leipzig,1893),
p. 41. Therewas explicitdisapproval ofthelaterpartsoftheOrganonamongthese
Christian studentsofAristotle'slogic.ThusSt. JohnofDamascuswas outspoken in
hisdisapproval ofAnal.Post.Cf.RichardWalzer,"NewLighton theArabicTrans-

This content downloaded from 195.78.108.37 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 17:11:35 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
132 NICHOLAS RESCHER

later parts of the Organon,the transmissionof these later works suffered

a significantdelay. Thus, althoughthe Syriac translationof the basic logical
texts commencedaround 600 A.D., Anal. Post. was not translated into
Syriac untilaround850 (by HIunainibn Ish. q); and althoughArabic trans-
lation of the Organon began around 820, Anal. Post. was not translated
intoArabic untilaround900 (by AbuiBishr Matta ibn Yuinus,the principal
teacherof al-FarTbi and foundingfatherof the School of Baghdad). These
facts have long been known,but they are greatlyclarifiedby the informa-
tion providedin al-FarTbi's discussion.It appears that the eastern Christ-
ians (especially the Nestorians) took a disapprovingview of the epistemo-
logy of the PosteriorAnalytics.Aristotleis here concernedto put forward
a conceptionof the nature of scientificknowledge,construingthis in terms
of deductiveinferencefrom"necessary"premisses.'9But this view leaves no
room forrevelationor any otherspecificallyreligioussource of knowledge
withinthe sphereof "scientificknowledge,"the sole mode of genuineknowl-
edge,accordingto Aristotle.It thus came to pass that theologicalobjections
to the Aristotelianconception,as advanced in Anal. Post., of an epistemol-
ogy based on the deductiveestablishmentof necessary conclusionson the
basis of necessarypremisses,had importantconsequencesfor the develop-
mentof logical studies.It led the Christianprofessorsof philosophyin Alex-
andria, and their followersin the Syriac-speakingorbit,to a de-emphasis
upon Anal. Post. and its successorworks,as well as to virtualabandonment
of the entirepart of Anal. Pr. (after section 7 Book I) that is devoted to
developingthe machineryof modal syllogisms,and especially the theoryof
apodictic inference(which is particularlyclosely bound-upwith the treat-
mentof necessaryinferenceput forwardin Anal. Post.).20
Al-FrTbhi's report consequentlysheds light upon an interestingand
little-knowninstance of the mouldingimpact of theologicalconsiderations
upon the historyof logical studies,and thusupon the historyof logic itself.2'
Universityof Pittsburgh.

lationsofAristotle,"Oriens,VI (1953),91-142(esp. 99). Withrespectto Anal.Pr.,

however, it shouldbe notedthatthe Syriactranslation by George,Bishopof the
Arabs (d. 724,veryold) is uniquein beinga completerendering of thisworkinto
Syriac.A. Baumstark, GeschichtederSyrischen Literatur(Bonn,1922),257.
19 For Aristotle,
theroleofobservation and inductionis notto validatetheulti-
mate premisses of scientific
knowledge, but to give experientalexemplication and
substantiationto them.Beingdefinitions, theseultimatepremisses requireno "ex-
ternal"validation.See themagisterialIntroductionofW. D. Ross'sAristotle's Prior
and Posterior Analytics(Oxford,1949). And forthetechnicaldetailsof Aristotle's
epistemology ofnecessaryinferencein thetheoryofmodalsyllogisms see thewriter's
studyof "Aristotle's Theoryof Modal Syllogisms and its Interpretation" in M.
Bunge(ed.), The CriticalApproach(Glencoe,Illinois,1962).
20 The detailsofthisrelationship
are demonstrated in thewriter'spapercitedin
thepreceding footnote.
21 Onlyaftercompleting thisstudydid IsidorFriedmann's ErlangenInaugural-
Dissertationcomeintomyhands:Aristotles' AnalyticabeidenSyrern(Berlin,1898),
39 pp. Providingno data notavailablefromother(thoughsometimes later)sources,
Friedmann doesgive(on pp. 9-11) a Germantranslation oftheinitialthree-fourths
ofourtext.

This content downloaded from 195.78.108.37 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 17:11:35 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions