The problematics of law and morality in Spinoza and al-Farabi

The main topic of this thesis is the problematics of law and morality. The disputes concerning how the connection between these two areas should be have been a major subject of the philosophy of law. The importance given to reason and science after modernization has led to the view that law can be a scientific field. This view has also brought forth drifting away from what is moral. Furthermore, moral crises in the social order, the increasing distrust in the judicial system due to its failure to meet the moral expectations hint at the necessity of studying this problem. In order to explain the problem and develop an understanding of how the relationship between law and morality should be, Spinoza and al-Farabi's views on the issue are considered. The reason why these two philosophers are chosen is that Spinoza's view on this problem has not been sufficiently addressed in the philosophy of law and it will be helpful to look at this problem occurring in the Islamic societies with the philosophy of an Islamic philosopher, al-Farabi. With this aim, firstly, a contemporary research on the relationship between law and morality has been done and then Spinoza and al-Farabi's approaches to the issue are discussed. In the final part, a conclusion as to the solution of the present problem has been drawn from these two philosophers' views as well as similar points between these two philosophers' philosophies are mentioned. As a general conclusion in the study, the necessity of the connection between these two areas, whose subject is human and human behaviors, has been reached.