Citizen of the World
Al-Fārābī's Cosmopolitanism
Will be published approx. on 31. October 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
224 pages
978-1-3995-3055-2 (ISBN)
Description
The early Greek Cynic, Diogenes, when asked where he came from simply replied: kosmopolitēs - 'I am a citizen of the world'. The ethical and political paradigm of cosmopolitanism is often exclusively attributed to the ancient schools of Cynicism and Stoicism. Cosmopolitanism is commonly assumed to have reached an impasse throughout the Middle Ages, only to resurface during the Enlightenment with the political philosophies of Hugo Grotius, Adam Smith, and Immanuel Kant. However, the political philosophy of Abū Naṣr al-Fārābī (870-950 CE), represents a promising avenue for the revival and expansion of cosmopolitanism. By harmonizing Plato and Aristotle with Neoplatonism and Islamic theology (kalām) in a radically innovative manner, al-Fārābī ambitiously proposes the existence of a political community extending across the entire inhabited world. This book demonstrates that the possibility and promise of al-Fārābī's cosmopolitanism remains an enduring contribution to contemporary debates concerning the future of democracy and global political association.
More details
Person
Josh Hayes is Associate Professor of Philosophy in the Department of Humanities at Alvernia University and Associate Fellow at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies. His research addresses the comparative intersection between ancient Greek philosophy, medieval Islamic philosophy, and contemporary continental philosophy. Recent publications include 'Al-Fārābī's Cosmopolitical Imaginaries' (Journal of Social Imaginaries, 2024), 'Configurations of Shame from Ancient Greece to Medieval Islam, ' (Cultures of Shame, Routledge, 2023), 'Al-Fārābī's Phenomenology of the Political Imagination, ' (Iranian Yearbook of Phenomenology, 2020) and 'Cosmos and Community: A History of Medieval Islamic Cosmopolitanism' (Edinburgh Critical History of Middle Ages and Renaissance Philosophy, Edinburgh University Press, 2020). His edited volumes include From Philosophy to Falsafa: A Graeco-Arabic Dialogue (Bloomsbury, forthcoming), Heidegger and the Islamicate World (Rowman and Littlefield Press, 2019) and Aristotle and the Arabic Tradition (Cambridge University Press, 2015).