The Nasirean Ethics

Introduction

Tusi wrote this Persian work in 1235 for Nasir al-Din Muhtasham, the Ismaili governor of Quhistan, after whom it is named. Its first part reworks the Arabic ethics of Miskawayh; the second, on household management, draws on the Greek author Bryson; the third, on politics, follows al-Farabi. The structure follows the old division of practical philosophy into ethics, economics and politics. After the Mongol conquest of the Ismaili fortresses Tusi rewrote the preface to remove its praise of the Ismailis. G. M. Wickens translated the work into English in 1964.

Connections

Builds on

• Nicomachean Ethicsc. 340 BCE · Aristotle
• The Virtuous Cityc. 942 · al-Farabi

Taken up in

• Jalalian Ethicsc. 1475 · Jalal al-Din al-Dawani
• The Ethics of Ali1564 · Kınalızade Ali Çelebi