An Al-Farabian Analysis of Social Disorder in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar

Abstract

Like many political philosophers, Al-Farabi was influenced by Greek philosophy and tried to define the best regime and ruler. However, much has changed in Al-Farabian scholarship since the 1970s, and 80s through deeper analyses of his philosophy, and translations of his works. The early Islamic philosopher Al-Farabi (870-950) played a key role in the revival of Plato and Aristotle’s works within Islamic philosophy, guiding others by studying and providing commentary on these texts. Al-Farabi and his political philosophy deal with the existence of human, ruling, and ruled organs in the body, the city and state which exemplify hierarchy, the features of a ruler, and the differences between excellent and ignorant cities in his on the Perfect State. In this sense, focusing on an Al-Farabian political reading of Julius Caesar, the aim of this study is twofold. Firstly, it examines the abovementioned socio-political issues to present the idea that such political qualities are also represented and questioned in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Secondly, the paper argues that the two works exhibit socio-political similarities inasmuch as Caesar’s portrayal of power relations within the play can be related to Al-Farabian understanding of the society, state, and rulership.