Abstract

The Arabic philosophical tradition followed the Alexandrian school in including both the Rhetoric and the Poetics among the logical texts. Such inclusion raised the question of the nature of poetic validity and its role in forming a community. This question was of great importance for Arabic culture since poetry was not only the main art form but also the basis of education before the rise of Islam. Therefore, Arabic philosophers developed sophisticated studies of poetry and had to contend with the views of the literary critiques.