The Misty Land of Ideas and The Light of Dialogue

The Misty Land of Ideas and The Light of Dialogue

Author: Ali Paya

Publisher: ICAS Press

Published: 2013-11-12

Total Pages: 411

ISBN-13: 1904063578

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Comparative philosophy, like other types of philosophy, is a sort of dialogue among philosophers. But whereas dialogue among philosophers in the traditional branches of philosophy is usually in the form of duologue, in comparative philosophy three interlocutors are involved. Participants in a dialogue of the type which is common in comparative philosophy need not be contemporaneous. Nor do they need to speak the same language or belong to the same tradition. Of the three interlocutors in a dialogue of the type relevant to comparative philosophy, the one who plays the role of the go-between among the other two is the true practitioner of ‘comparative philosophy’ or, to coin a term, the true ‘comparative philosopher’, i.e, the one who is actually engaged in the process of comparing philosophies and reflecting upon the finesse of the art of comparison of views. The comparative philosopher is an interpreter, a commentator, a critic, a connoisseur of good philosophical arguments and interesting ideas, an educator, and a communicator. This last characteristic pertains to the role the comparative philosopher plays vis-à-vis contemporary and future audiences.


The Holy One of Israel

The Holy One of Israel

Author: Lenn E. Goodman

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2019-10-03

Total Pages: 313

ISBN-13: 0190698489

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Holy, holy, holy! The Lord of hosts! The fill of all the earth is His glory. In these few ecstatic words, the prophet Isaiah captured the core of Jewish thinking about humanity, nature, and God. If the idea of holiness generally points toward God's transcendence, Isaiah brings it back down to earth, recognizing God's presence throughout the world. The Holy One of Israel is a philosophical exploration of that remarkable and distinctively Jewish idea: that God is everywhere, yet not in space. Lenn Goodman explores what can be meant by God's uniqueness, presence, and perfection. In a text richly resonant with the classic Jewish sources and in dialogue with the great philosophers, Goodman probes the ideas of revelation, natural law, the problem of evil, the challenges and limits of the idea of God's transcendence, and God's actions in and through nature, including human nature. This book is a must-read for anyone seriously interested in how our ideas about God can inform our lives and our thinking about individual and social responsibility and intellectual and artistic creativity and spiritual growth.


Lenn E. Goodman: Judaism, Humanity, and Nature

Lenn E. Goodman: Judaism, Humanity, and Nature

Author: Hava Tirosh-Samuelson

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2014-11-06

Total Pages: 255

ISBN-13: 9004280766

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Lenn E. Goodman is Professor of Philosophy and Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. Trained in medieval Arabic and Hebrew philosophy and intellectual history, his prolific scholarship has covered the entire history of philosophy from antiquity to the present with a focus on medieval Jewish philosophy. A synthetic philosopher, Goodman has drawn on Jewish religious sources (e.g., Bible, Midrash, Mishnah, and Talmud) as well as philosophic sources (Jewish, Muslim, and Christian), in an attempt to construct his own distinctive theory about the natural basis of morality and justice. Taking his cue from medieval Jewish philosophers such as Maimonides, Goodman offers a new theoretical framework for Jewish communal life that is attentive to contemporary philosophy and science.


E-Learning and Islamic Studies: Proceedings of the 2014 Conference Organised by The Islamic College and Middlesex University

E-Learning and Islamic Studies: Proceedings of the 2014 Conference Organised by The Islamic College and Middlesex University

Author: Mehdi Aminrazavi

Publisher: ICAS Press

Published: 2017-01-01

Total Pages: 234

ISBN-13: 1907905316

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'Prophet Muhammad', writes Mehdi Aminrazavi in his introduction to this volume, 'was one of the first students of distance learning. He learned about revelation from God through the medium of Gabriel.' Drawing a symbolic correlation between the Prophet and twenty-first-century students participating in a new age of enlightenment offered by Internet technology, Aminrazavi and the contributors to this book explore the pearls and perils of introducting new technologies into Islamic Studies. Oritinally presented at the International Conference on Islamic Studies and E-Learning organised by The Islamic College and Middlesex University in London in 2014, the essays within E-Learning and Islamic Studies explore the interrelationship between Islamic Studies and e-learning from three different perspectives: the emerging issues presented by this new frontier, how technology can be used effectively within Islamic e-learning, and the importance of pedagogy and procedures in Islamic e-course delivery. While distance and e-learning can pose immense challenges, the contributions to this important and timely collection show that although dissemination of knowledge can bring with it contention, dissension, and conflict, Islamic embracing of the internet and mass communication is, to the contrary, a fulfllment of the Prophetic command to acquire knowledge from the cradel to the grave.


Negative Theology as Jewish Modernity

Negative Theology as Jewish Modernity

Author: Michael Fagenblat

Publisher: Indiana University Press

Published: 2017-02-27

Total Pages: 389

ISBN-13: 0253025044

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Negative theology is the attempt to describe God by speaking in terms of what God is not. Historical affinities between Jewish modernity and negative theology indicate new directions for thematizing the modern Jewish experience. Questions such as, What are the limits of Jewish modernity in terms of negativity? Has this creative tradition exhausted itself? and How might Jewish thought go forward? anchor these original essays. Taken together they explore the roots and legacies of negative theology in Jewish thought, examine the viability and limits of theorizing the modern Jewish experience as negative theology, and offer a fresh perspective from which to approach Jewish intellectual history.


Methods, Methodologies, and Perspectives in the Humanities and Social Sciences With Particular Reference to Islamic Studies: A Critical Rationalist Interpretation

Methods, Methodologies, and Perspectives in the Humanities and Social Sciences With Particular Reference to Islamic Studies: A Critical Rationalist Interpretation

Author: Ali Paya

Publisher: ICAS Press

Published: 2021-01-01

Total Pages: 752

ISBN-13: 1907905529

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This book presents the first comprehensive introduction to methods and methodologies in the humanities and social sciences in general, and Islamic Studies in particular, from a critical rationalist point of view. The book aims to be a self-sufficient theoretical and practical guide to the topics that it introduces. It contains a large selection of fully worked out review activities and review questions plus topics for further discussion which are devised to assist readers to better understand the issues which are discussed in the book. Last but not least, all efforts have been made to make sure that most (if not all) of the reading materials which are recommended in the book are not only of the highest quality but also freely available on the internet.


The Political Philosophy of Mullā Ṣadrā

The Political Philosophy of Mullā Ṣadrā

Author: Seyyed Khalil Toussi

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-02-24

Total Pages: 263

ISBN-13: 1317614321

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Providing a comprehensive and widely accessible investigation into Mullā Ṣadrā’s works, this book establishes his political philosophy and instigates a dialogue on the relevance of Ṣadrā’s philosophy to present day challenges. Investigating Ṣadrā’s primary sources, the book reveals that his discourse on politics cannot be interpreted as a discursive springboard for hierocracy and political authority of jurists, nor does the mystical attitude of his philosophy (with its emphasis on the inner aspects of religion) promote an idea of quietism or a fundamental separation of religion and politics. Laying the groundwork for further translations and interpretation, this volume is not just concerned with ‘political philosophy’ as yet another particular and limited facet of Ṣadrā’s overall system. Rather, through unifying mystical, intellectual and political aspects of this singular philosopher, the volume is concerned with properly contextualizing and understanding the guiding intentions and inspirations that unify and underlie all of his creative philosophical endeavour. This pioneering and provocative work of genuine reflection is a new contribution to the wider subject of political philosophy. It will be of interest to researchers of political philosophy, Islamic philosophy, mysticism, theology, history and Iranian studies.


Jewish Philosophy for the Twenty-First Century

Jewish Philosophy for the Twenty-First Century

Author: Hava Tirosh-Samuelson

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2014-08-21

Total Pages: 557

ISBN-13: 9004279628

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Jewish Philosophy for the Twenty-First Century encourages contemporary Jewish thinkers to reflect on the meaning of Judaism in the modern world by connecting these reflections to their own personal biographies. In so doing, it reveals the complexity of Jewish thought in the present moment. The contributors reflect on a range of political, social, ethical, and educational challenges that face Jews and Judaism today and chart a path for the future. The results showcase how Jewish philosophy encompasses the methodologies and concerns of other fields such as political theory, intellectual history, theology, religious studies, anthropology, education, comparative literature, and cultural studies. By presenting how Jewish thinkers address contemporary challenges of Jewish existence, the volume makes a valuable contribution to the humanities as a whole, especially at a time when the humanities are increasingly under duress for being irrelevant.


Differences in Identity in Philosophy and Religion

Differences in Identity in Philosophy and Religion

Author: Lydia Azadpour

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2020-04-02

Total Pages: 216

ISBN-13: 135007652X

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This book explores the constitutive role alterity plays in identity formation in Western and Eastern traditions. It examines the significance of difference in conceptions of identity across major philosophical and religious traditions in a global and comparative context, considering Ancient Greek and Egyptian, Chinese, Islamic, European and Japanese philosophies. In addition, the book opens up discussion of less dominant trends in philosophical thinking, particularly the spaces between self-same existence and otherness in the histories of philosophical and religious thought. Chapters critique both essentialist and postmodern understandings of self-constitution by questioning the ordinary narrative of identity construction across Western and non-Western traditions. The book also explores the construction of selfhood from a wide range of perspectives, drawing upon individual philosophers (including Plotinus, Descartes, Geulincx, Hume, de Beauvoir and Ueda) as well as religious and philosophical movements, including Confucian philosophy, Zen Buddhism, Protestantism and Post-Phenomenology. Differences in Identity in Philosophy and Religion represents a landmark study, drawing together a range of approaches, perspectives and traditions to explore how identity is constructed across the world.


Islam, Modernity and a New Millennium

Islam, Modernity and a New Millennium

Author: Ali Paya

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-02-02

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13: 1351615599

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As the world becomes increasingly globalised Islam faces some important choices. Does it seek to "modernise" in line with the cultures in which it is practised, or does it retain its traditions even if they are at odds with the surrounding society? This book utilizes a critical rationalist viewpoint to illuminate many of the hotly contended issues in modern Islam, and to offer a fresh analysis. A variety of issues within Islam are discussed in this book including, Muslims and modernity; Islam, Christianity and Judaism; approaches to the understanding of the Quran; Muslim identity and civil society; doctrinal certainty and violent radicalism. In each case, the author makes use of Karl Popper’s theory of critical rationalism to uncover new aspects of these issues and to challenge post-modern, relativist, literalist and justificationist readings of Islam. This is a unique perspective on contemporary Islam and as such will be of significant interest to scholars of Religious Studies, Islamic Studies and the Philosophy of Religion.