Arab Philosophical Trends
Responses to Modernity
Illuminates the core beliefs of twentieth-century Arab philosophers in response to Western ideas of modernisation
- Provides an introductory survey of many of the most important founders of the Arab philosophical schools of the 20th century. Many of these have not been adequately introduced to the English-speaking world, such as Kamal al-Hajj and his Al Ta’aduliyyah (“Equilibriumism”) and Naslamiyyah (“Christislamity”)
- Discusses the Arab responses to the threat of secularisation on Arab heritage
- Forms a dialogue with the philosophers’ primary writings, rather than their secondary interpreters
- Explores an area that neither Western nor Arab authors have explored in much detail
This book studies the responses of the founders of twentieth-century Arab philosophical schools to the question of (primarily Western) modernisation in the Arab world, particularly to its relationship with Arab heritage. For some intellectuals, there are calls for a new Nahda or Renaissance, for the Arabs to modernise on their own terms within their own heritage, in various forms. Others are more interested in choosing Western modernisation and accepting the inevitable consequences of secularisation.
Acknowledgements Introduction
1 Trends in Arabic Thought between Past and Present: The Arab Heritage and Modernity 2 Al-‘Aqlaniyya al-Mu‘tadila (‘Moderate Rationalism’): Yousuf Karam (1889–1959) 3 Al-Raḥimāniyya (‘Womb-ism’): Zaki al-Din al-Arsuzi (1899–1968) 4 Al-Madraḥiyya (‘Material Spiritualism’): Antoun Saadeh (1904–49)5 Al-Jawwāniyya (‘Internalism’): Othman Amin (1905–78)6 Al-Kiyāniyya (‘Beingism’): Charles Malik (1906–87)7 Al-Waḍ‘iyya al-Manṭiqiyya (‘Logical Positivism’) and al-Iṣṭilāḥiyya al-Ṣūriyya (‘Formalist Conventionalism’): Zaki Naguib Mahmoud (1905–93) and Yasin Khalil (1934–86)8 Al-Shakhṣāniyya al-Mutawassiṭiyya (‘Mediterranean Personalism’): René Habachi (1915–2003)9 Al-T‘āduliyya (‘Equilibriumism’) and al-Naṣlāmiyya(‘Christislamity’): Kamal Yousuf al-Hajj (1917–76)10 Al-Wujūdiyya al-‘Arabiyya (‘Arab Existentialism’): Abderrahmane Badawi (1917–2002)11 Al-Shakhṣāniyya al-Wāqi‘yya (‘Realistic Personalism’): Mohammed Aziz Lahbabi (1922–2003)12 Al-‘Ilmāwiyya (‘Scientism’): Mohammed Abderrahman Marhaba (1925–2006)13 Al-‘Aqlāniyya al-‘Arabiyya (‘Arab Rationalism’): Husam al-Alusi (1936–2013)14 Al-Tārīkhiyya al-Mādiyya (‘Historical Materialism’): Sadik Jalal al-Azm (1934–2016)15 Al-Tafkīkiyya (‘Deconstructionism’) and al-Ikhtilāf (‘Difference’): Abdelkebir Khatibi (1938–2009)16 Fatema Mernissi (1940–2015): Modernity and the Standard-Bearer of Feminism17 Al-Tanwīriyya Rushdiyya (‘Rushdian Enlightenment’): Murad Wahbah (1926–)Conclusion
Bibliography Index
Arab Philosophical Trends combines erudition and creativity, intimacy with the subject and dialogues between the past and present with methodological feeling and excellent epistemology. In tune with contemporary, plural and decolonial studies, this book offers a fascinating picture of the richness of Arab thought, ancient legacy and dialectical overcoming during the current challenges. Al-Salimi brings back a treasure eclipsed in the 20th century not for a museum but for a Socratic field of free thought, life and improvement of dialogue that is so urgent and necessary between East and West.
This book is likely to be the standard text in this area for some time and is an important addition to our understanding of modern Arabic culture.
