Big questions
What is the deeper structure of the world? What does it mean to be human? And how do we live together with others? This course explores how Islamic philosophy approaches these universal questions. How have Islamic philosophers debated the relationship between faith and reason, the nature of the cosmos, and humanity’s place within it? How have these discussions given new dimensions to Islam, and how has Islamic philosophy left a lasting impact on European thought?
An innovative tradition
Islam is a religion with a deep, innovative, and influential philosophical tradition. Muslims are heirs to classical philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, and Plotinus. From the ninth century onward, they gave this tradition new momentum and took it in new directions. With groundbreaking ideas about the structure of the world, the nature of knowledge, the social structures we live in, and of course the nature of the divine that oversees all of this, generations of thinkers have constructed an impressive intellectual edifice. This body of ideas lives on not only in the contemporary Islamic world but also forms part of the foundations of European modernity.
Join this two-day course led by Harald Viersen, an expert in Arab thought and the intellectual history of Islam.
