Farabi’s Views and Ideas on the Role of Government and Education in Delineating the Gap between Knowledge and Moral Act

Farabi’s views and ideas on bridging the gap between knowledge and moral act are identified when we study the role of virtuous city. According to Farabi, the role of government and the virtuous city is laying the ground for virtuous habits and traditions in cities among nations through education. In fact, according to Farabi, the city and the government can set the scene for proper education, and as a result, for the emergence of the desirable moral behaviors so far as the city is a virtuous one. Meanwhile, the city can pave the way for the gap between knowledge and moral act when it is a vicious one. The vicious city is a city whose citizens share the same beliefs with the virtuous city inhabitants but they do not act according to those beliefs and their acts are similar to those of the ignorant city inhabitants. The reason can be traced back to the education of the people of the vicious city and its government. In fact, education is the basis for moral acts irrespective of whether they are proper or improper. Of course, it should be mentioned that Farabi also refers to the role of habit, pleasure, weakness of will and weakness in evaluation in the emergence of the gap between knowledge and moral act.