Finding al-Fārābī in The Walking Dead

Year 2018, , 41 - 71, 13.06.2018

Ebrar Akdeniz Özgür Kavak

https://doi.org/10.12730/13091719.2018.91.173

Cited By: 1

Abstract

In the 21st century, the world offers new philosophical ideas with new discussion platforms, which are technologically advanced visual fields. However, no study considers these modern products to be something that can be read with classical Islamic philosophy. As a post-apocalyptic show, The Walking Dead presents a world full of zombies where humans are trying to rebuild their civilization. Therefore, we aim to study this adventure of civilization with the ideas of al-Fārābī, who was one of the most important political philosophers in Islamic thought. This study’s purpose is to compare The Walking Dead universe with al-Fārābī’s political philosophy to bring his ideas to the contemporary world. Thus, the study helps us learn al-Fārābī’s philosophical system and shows us how he can still be effective in the modern age. Hopefully, this study proves that this kind of research can adapt the ideas of past thinkers to the current age and creates a connection between past and future thinkers.

Keywords

Al-Fārābī, The Walking Dead, political philosophy, the ultimate happiness, civilization, the Virtuous City, zombies

Thanks

We are indebted to anonymous reviewers of this article for providing insightful comments.

References

• Ahmed, Rumee. “Jurisprudence and Political Philosophy in Medieval Islam.” In The Routledge Companion to Islamic Philosophy, edited by Richard C. Taylor and Luis Xavier López-Farjeat, 57-66. New York: Routledge, 2016.
• Aston, James. “The Post-apocalyptic Family in The Walking Dead.” https://www.academia.edu. Accessed April 10, 2017.
• Darabont, Frank Árpád, prod. The Walking Dead. TV Series, AMC. 2010.
• Delfino, Robert and Kyle Taylor. “Walking Contradictions.” In The Walking Dead and Philosophy: Zombie Apocalypse Now. Edited by Wayne Yuen. Chicago: Open Court, 2016.
• al-Fārābī, Abū Naṣr Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ṭarkhān. Kitāb ārāʾ ahl al-madīnah al-fāḍilah. Edited by Albert Naṣrī Nādir. 5th ed. Beirut: Dār al-Mashriq, 1985.
• al-Fārābī, Abū Naṣr Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ṭarkhān. Kitāb al-siyāsah al-madaniyyah al-mulaqqab bi-mabādiʾ al-mawjūdāt, ed. Fawzī Mitrī Najjār. Beirut: Dār al-Mashriq, 1993.
• Fārābī [al-Fārābī, Abū Naṣr Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ṭarkhān]. Fusulü’l-Medeni: Siyaset Felsefesine Dair Görüşler. Edited by D. M. Dunlop. Translated by Hanifi Özcan. İzmir: Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Yayınları, 1987.
• Goldberg, Lesley. “Did ‘The Walking Dead’ Just Officially Introduce the Whisperers?” The Hollywood Reporter. February 19, 2017. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/walking-dead-who-is-jadis-are-they-whisperers-alpha-977624. Accessed May 30, 2017.
• Gonzales, Roy John, Jr. “Duality and Dissolution in the Post-Apocalypse: Nietzsche’s Cycle of Morality in AMC’s The Walking Dead.” Master’s thesis, Texas, TX: Texas A & M International University, 2016.
• Hah, Byoung Joo. “Al-Fārābī’s Political Theory.” PhD diss., Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh, 1995.
• Ibn Khaldûn [Ibn Khaldūn, Abū Zayd Walī al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad]. The Muqaddimah: An Introduction to History. 2nd ed. Translated by Franz Rosenthal. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1980.
• Judd, Gabriel A. “‘I Kick Arse For The Lord!’ Christianity, Coloniality, the Zombie, and the Indian.” Final Paper, Seattle, WA: University of Washington, 2013.
• Kain, Erik. “‘The Walking Dead’ Season 7, Episode 2 Review: Long Live King Ezekiel.” Forbes, October 30, 2016. https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2016/10/30/the-walking-dead-season-7-episode-2-review-long-live-king-ezekiel/#157e7d19fa9d. Accessed June 8, 2017.
• Korkut, Şenol. Fârâbî’nin Siyaset Felsefesi. Ankara: Atlas Kitap, 2015.
• Mahdi, Muhsin, tr. Alfarabi: Philosophy of Plato and Aristotle. Revised ed. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2001.
• Moran, Sarah. “How The Kingdom Changes The Walking Dead.” Screenrant, October 31, 2016. http://screenrant.com/walking-dead-kingdom-ezekiel-change-seaosn-7/. Accessed June 8, 2017.
• Orwin, Alexander I. “Can Humankind Deliberate on a Global Scale? Alfarabi and the Politics of the Inhabited World.” American Political Science Review 108, no. 4 (2014): 830-839. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055414000422.
• Plato. Republic. Translated by John Llewelyn Davies and David James Vaughan. Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions, 1997.
• Sağsöz, Ozan. “The Walking Dead İçin Bir Mukaddime.” Mukaddime Notları: İbn Haldun’umu Öğreniyorum (blog). March 12, 2015. https://mukaddimenotlari.wordpress.com. Accessed April 10, 2017.
• Sağsöz, Ozan. “Walking Dead Üzerine Bir Değerlendirme I.” Mukaddime Notları: İbn Haldun’umu Öğreniyorum (blog). March 12, 2015. https://mukaddimenotlari.wordpress.com. Accessed April 10, 2017.
• Toktaş, Fatih. “Fârâbî’nin Kitâbü’l-Mille Adlı Eserinin Takdim ve Çevirisi.” Dîvân: İlmî Araştırmalar 12, no. 1 (2002): 247-273.