Investigating the Theory of Individualism in Islamic Political Philosophy

Ibn Bâjja and Ibn Tufail who have individualistic attitude have gone far from the dominant tradition and discourse of political science based on authenticity of community. They believe that man’s good fortune is not found in "public life", but in "personal life". Their individualism is based on self-reliance and freedom from the need for political and social order. They believe that man can have an individual life away from political order and civic education and can achieve happiness and good fortune by relying on reason and intellectual perceptions. Elaborating on the conditions of utopian society and non-utopian communities and on the separation of essential and transverse individualism, this paper investigates the nature of individualism of these two philosophers.