Ghazālī and the Poetics of Imagination
University of North Carolina Press (2005)
| Abstract | Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, a Muslim jurist-theologian and polymath who lived from the mid-eleventh to the early twelfth century in present-day Iran, is a figure equivalent in stature to Maimonides in Judaism and Thomas Aquinas in Christianity. He is best known for his work in philosophy, ethics, law, and mysticism. In an engaged re-reading of the ideas of this preeminent Muslim thinker, Ebrahim Moosa argues that Ghazali's work has lasting relevance today as a model for a critical encounter with the Muslim intellectual tradition in a modern and postmodern context. Moosa employs the theme of the threshold, or dihliz , the space from which Ghazali himself engaged the different currents of thought in his day, and proposes that contemporary Muslims who wish to place their own traditions in conversation with modern traditions consider the same vantage point. Moosa argues that by incorporating elements of Islamic theology, neoplatonic mysticism, and Aristotelian philosophy, Ghazali's work epitomizes the idea that the answers to life's complex realities do not reside in a single culture or intellectual tradition. Ghazali's emphasis on poiesis--creativity, imagination, and freedom of thought--provides a sorely needed model for a cosmopolitan intellectual renewal among Muslims, Moosa argues. Such a creative and critical inheritance, he concludes, ought to be heeded by those who seek to cultivate Muslim intellectual traditions in today's tumultuous world. | |||||||||
| Keywords | Philosophy, Islamic Imagination Islam Creative ability Islam | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Buy the book | $69.90 used (1% off) $69.95 new $69.95 direct from Amazon Amazon page | |||||||||
| Call number | B753.G34.M66 2005 | |||||||||
| ISBN(s) | 0807829528 9780807829523 | |||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,653 |
| External links |
  Try with proxy. |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesJohn Walbridge (2010). God and Logic in Islam: The Caliphate of Reason. Cambridge University Press.
Muhammad Hozien (2006). Ghazali and the Poetics of Imagination. Journal of Islamic Philosophy 2 (1):201-202.
Farouk Mitha (2001). Al-Ghazālī and the Ismailis: A Debate on Reason and Authority in Medieval Islam. Distributed in the U.S. By St. Martin's Press.
Hermann Landolt & Todd Lawson (eds.) (2005). Reason and Inspiration in Islam: Theology, Philosophy and Mysticism in Muslim Thought: Essays in Honour of Hermann Landolt. Distributed in the United States by St Martin's Press.
Muḥammad Ghazālī (2004). Muslim Character: An American-English Translation of Muhammad Al-Ghazali's Khuluq Al-Muslim. Library of Islam.
Analytics
Monthly downloads
Sorry, there are not enough data points to plot this chart.
|
Added to index2009-01-28Total downloads0Recent downloads (6 months)0How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
