Zahra Nayebi

by Rodrigo Ballon Villanueva

Zahra Nayebi

Summer 2025 – Summer is finally here, and before going for a short break, we are happy to introduce you to Zahra Nayebi!

Zahra’s research interests include ancient and medieval philosophy, particularly as developed in the Islamic world. She holds a BA (2012) in Sociology from the University of Tehran (Iran) and an MA (2016) in the same discipline from Allame Tabatabaie University (Iran). During the latter, she analysed the relationship between language and society in al-Fārābi’s thought, which inspired her to pursue a career in philosophy.

She began her postgraduate training in philosophy at the University of Tehran in 2020, becoming a PhD student at the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (Germany) in 2021. Zahra’s dissertation, supervised by Nadja Germann, explores al-Fārābi’s doctrine of oneness and existence, arguing that these should be taken as the most fundamental concepts of his metaphysics. The primary goal of this project is to re-examine the intertwined relationship between al-Fārābi’s notions of being, oneness, and unity and their ontological and theological implications. According to Zahra, to better understand al-Fārābi’s ontology and henology, one needs to recognise it as a meeting point of, on the one hand, the Islamic intellectual heritage and, on the other, the Aristotelian and Neoplatonic traditions. With this in mind, she aims to offer a novel interpretation of al-Fārābi’s views on oneness and existence, showing that they shaped his stance concerning the ontological status of existents and the First principle, namely, God. In connection with this, Zahra also pays attention to al-Fārābi’s sophisticated refutation of Parmenidean monism, the idea of essential possibility, the notion of identity, etc.

If you want to know more about Zahra’s work, feel free to message her at zahra.nayebi@philosophie.uni-freiburg.de