The works of the medieval Arabic philosopher Al-Farabi (c. 872-950) reconstruct the thinking of Plato and Aristotle in a world forever changed by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In the Attainment of Happiness and The Philosophy of Plato and Aristotle, Al-Farabi quietly presents a radical political program. Al-Farabi’s ponderous opening meditation on epistemology turns out to be a disguised on-ramp to a feverish political dream: a jihad to impose rationality upon a world gone mad. A true cosmopolitan, Al-Farabi hopes for a new Alexander to take up the sword and to take control of the proliferating dreams of Abrahamic religion. While this ideal prince of mankind will have an ultimately ambiguous relationship to his own religious prescriptions, he will have perfect knowledge of how to differentiate his prophecies to the various peoples of the world. Al-Farabi’s highest hopes for a new philosopher-king bear remarkable similarities to the mission and capabilities of the Emperor of Mankind in Warhammer: 40,000. I hope to outline these similarities and to evaluate the Emperor’s successes and failures by Al-Farabi’s perfect standards for politics.
Author bio
Tim is a student of political philosophy at Hillsdale College – an outpost of the Ecclesiarchy on the agri-world of Michigan, Segmentum Midwestiarum. Formerly, he was a teacher in Idaho, a fortress world on the periphery of civilization.
