Farabi's rational education model on practical reasoning

This study aimed to present the model of Farabi’s rational education with an emphasis on practical reasoning. Therefore, Frankna’s deductive model was used and the ultimate goal of Farabi's rational education was found to attain God as the first cause. The mediating goals of rational education in the field of practical reasoning include actualization of the power of reasoning (rationality), realization of the will resulting from the power of reasoning (authority), creation of moral virtues among nations, creation of a moderate personality, and realization of a utopia. The principles of rational education in this field include the principle of readiness, educability (discipline), responsibility (individual aspect), and imperfection of human cognition. The principle of graduality and methods of rational education in this field also include observation, attention to the ability of individuals (giving tasks based on ability), gaining experience, discipline, moral cultivation, cooperation (empathy and cooperation), repetition and practice, and learning wisdom.
Introduction
Farabi’s theory of reasoning refers to his prominent role and valuable point of view. Farabi succeeded in establishing a relationship between Greek philosophy and Islam, and creating a modern educational system. He had an undeniable influence on the ideas and theories of the philosophers after him.
In Farabi's view, reasoning has six different meanings: 1. Cleverness from the view of the general public, 2. The power of discussion in the view of lecturers, 3. The power of argumentation in philosophy (at Aristotle's book of argument), 4. Empirical reasoning (practical reasoning in ethics), 5. Reasoning (in Aristotle's treatise on the soul) as a concept with three degrees: material, active, and Mostafad (the active reasoning (Gabriel) should be considered as an effective factor to go beyond such degrees by man), and 6. The initial reasoning (God).
Mirza Mohammadi (2015) has specified the principles, goals, and methods of education based on the epistemological principles of Farabi in his treatise Fusus al-Hikma.
Adelzadeh Naeini, Norouzi and Rahmani (2020) have presented a model, including the goals, principles, and methods of Farabi's intellectual education in the field of theoretical reasoning, but have not mentioned practical reasoning. Adelzadeh Naeini, Norouzi and Rahmani (2020) have identified learning science, observation, and gaining experience as methods of gaining knowledge in intellectual education in Farabi’s school of thought.
Methodology
Considering the subject of the research, we used a qualitative method with a deductive approach in this research.
Therefore, the meanings and concepts of Farabi's rational education were first described in the field of practical reasoning. Then, the data were thematically coded, categorized, and analyzed by deductive categorization system.
Moreover, the realistic propositions related to the goals, principles, and methods of rational education in Farabi's school of thought were identified separately. Finally, after identifying the propositions and using the Frankna’s deductive method (reconstructed model), we obtained the results in the form of goals, principles, and methods of rational education in the field of practical reasoning (Bagheri, 2015, pp. 121-122).
Credibility
The researchers continuously studied various sources and research. Furthermore, the findings are based on the subject of the research to properly evaluate the analysis and interpretations.
Reliability
To confirm the reliability of the findings, the following steps were taken: relevant resources were identified for collecting and recording data. All the data were integrated to form a database, which was divided into semantic units for analysis. Then categories were formed based on similarity of the contents, which were labelled as a category, and divided into subcategories according to the differences. All the sections related to a category were reviewed, compared, and modified to extract realistic propositions related to each section. Finally, the goals, principles, and methods of rational education were extracted and conclusions were drawn according to the research method.
Results
Discussion and conclusion
The ultimate goal of rational education from Farabi's point of view is to attain God as the first cause.
In this regard, the mediating goals of rational education according to Farabi in the field of practical reason include the actualization of the power of reasoning (rationality), realization of the will resulting from the power of reasoning (authority), creation of moral virtues among nations, realization of a utopia, and creation of a moderate personality.
Considering the goals of rational education, the principles of rational education include the principle of readiness, discipline, responsibility, imperfection of human cognition, graduality, cooperation, and moderation.
According to the principles obtained in this research, the methods of rational education are observation, attention to the ability of individuals (giving tasks based on ability), gaining experience, discipline, moral cultivation, cooperation (empathy and cooperation), repetition and practice, and learning wisdom.
Based on the results obtained in this study, it can be concluded that all these methods have led to the creation of intellectual knowledge. Considering the importance and position of rational knowledge in civil societies, paying attention to it can be effective and useful for the perfection of rational power and the promotion of rational education.