On the Perfect State

Rating:
Summary: An excellent book
Review: Al-Farabi is one of the greatest Moslem philosophers who had lasting influence on many Moslem thinkers coming after him. His book " on the perfect state" shows a clear "Shia" influence on his thoughts.

Rating:
Summary: A Merging of Politics, Psychology, and Metaphysics
Review: Farabi here lays out the foundations of his political philosophy. On the basis of the title, the work appears to be simply a political text. It is in fact a comprehensive summation of Farabi's worldview of which political philosophy is only a part. Walzer's edition contains useful commentary, but he minimizes Farabi's own creative genius, reading into too many of his ideas Greek antecedents.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Critical Edition
Review: Walzer's edition is the de facto standard for the Ara. Compiled from 10 MSS with an exhaustive commentary and parallel englsh-arabic translation it is a very important edition of a very important text by Al-Farabi. A must-have for any serious student of arabic philosophical thought.