"Alfarabi is now considered to be the founder of Muslim philosophy, and proves to be not simply the bridge for carrying over the thought of Aristotle and Plato into Western thought but a man of great originality.... Muhsin Mahdi makes clear that Alfarabi is not a popularizer but a man of great subtlety of thought and one who discerns the significance of Plato unmixed with Neo-Platonic philosophy."?Choice

This long-awaited reissue of the 1969 Cornell edition of Alfarabi's Philosophy of Plato and Aristotle contains Muhsin Mahdi's substantial original introduction and a new foreword by Charles E. Butterworth and Thomas L. Pangle.

The three parts of the book, "Attainment of Happiness," "Philosophy of Plato," and "Philosophy of Aristotle," provide a philosophical foundation for Alfarabi's political works.