- T = Timing: Could the topic discussed in class find relevance among today’s contemporary social, political, economic, or religious affairs?
Farabi prescribed a syllabus to children that is very deviant from the current educational system. This finds relevance among today’s contemporary social, political and economic affairs. Nowadays, it seems that the goal of education is to prepare citizens as fast as possible to step in the labour market. Education is becoming a mean for economic ends.
- O = Opinion: Formulate your own opinion on the topic and related discussions.
Farabi’s syllabus encapsulates a lot of different fields and is very diverse. The sequence of the modules that he offers is very logical. First the pupil begins with studying linguistics in order to understand what language means, then he learns how to use it in the logic module. It goes from inward-looking to outward-looking and from abstract knowledge to more concrete knowledge. Nowadays, we have so much knowledge and information available that we have made distinctive academic fields of research. It is practically impossible to study everything, so it is better to embark and distinguish the different sciences. However, I do think that there should be more personal attention for students and that studies can be extended for longer periods of time. Also, the commercialization of the universities and the education system is a threatening the academic neutrality of insitutions.
- D = Debate: Can you offer an oppositional view challenging the topic and main arguments discussed in class?
Farabi favours royal rule because he argues that monarchs want to please the divine and not the common people. Of course there is no evidence for this, as we know monarchs do not necessarily prefer to pleasure the divine instead of the interests of the people. Also, monarchy usually goes hand in hand with nepotism and clientelism. Also one of the definitions of intellect that the provides is divine intellect, it is unclear what is divine intellect is. In the text he talks about the ‘First Cause’, he does not specify or explain what this first cause is and there is no proof for it’s existence.
- A = Argument: Can you summarise the thematic argument in a few short sentences?
The principles by which the bodies and accidents exists are divided into six levels. The ‘First Cause’ is the first level, the secondary causes are in the second level these are responsible for the movement of the celestial bodies. The active intellect is in the third level, this refers to rationality. The soul is in the fourth. The form is in the fifth. Matter is in the sixth.
- Y = Yoda: How would Yoda epitomise the main topic discussed in class in his classically-famous aphorism?
”Nothing is certain”
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