Gli intelligibili primi e la loro origine in al-Fārābī: una descrizione e alcuni problemi interpretativi

First Intelligibles and Their Origin in al-Fārābī: A Description and Some Interpretative Problems · The article provides a description and a problematisation of the theory of first intelligibles, that is, of intellective contents that are not derived from either sense perception or practice, according to the Arabic philosopher al-Fārābī. The description preliminarily attempts a presentation based on a comprehensive list of Farabian texts. The following analysis wishes to stress, rather than to harmonise, the interpretative problems arising from this topic. It is problematic to determine al-Fārābī’s view about the origin of first intelligibles from either sense perception or innate ideas, as well as to understand how the respective roles of the spontaneous human nature and of the Active Intellect should be harmonised. These difficulties can be read as a sign of al-Fārābī’s interaction with the different options available in the previous tradition; the ambiguities inherent in such an int...