THE LABYRINTH OF PHILOSOPHY IN ISLAM

This paper focuses on the methodological issues related to the obstacles and potential horizons of approaching the philosophical traditions in Islam from the standpoint of comparative studies in philosophy, while also presenting selected case-studies that may potentially illustrate some of the possibilities of renewing the impetus of a philosophical thought that is inspired by Islamic intellectual history. This line of inquiry is divided into two parts: the first deals with questions of methodology, and the second focuses on ontology and phenomenology of perception, by way of offering pathways in investigating the history of philosophical and scientific ideas in Islam from the viewpoint of contemporary debates in philosophy. A special emphasis will be placed on: (a) interpreting the ontology of the eleventh century metaphysician Ibn Sina (known in Latin as: Avicenna; d. 1037 CE) in terms of rethinking Heidegger\u27s critique of the history of metaphysics, and (b) analyzing the philosophical implications of the theory of vision of the eleventh century polymath Ibn al-Haytham (known in Latin as Alhazen; d. ca. 1041 CE) in terms of reflecting on Merleau-Ponty\u27s phenomenology of perception

Falsafa: ein Labyrinth der Theorie und Methode

Ovaj rad istražuje teorijske osnove metodologija koje se koriste u proučavanju falsafe (pozna i kao ‘arapska i islamska filozofija’). Nakana je promisliti perspektive obnavljanja izabrani lajtmotiva iz konstelacije hibridnih filozofskih tradicija u falsafi u sklopu transcendiranja kon vencija glavnih škola i učenja, uz njihovo naginjanje dokumentiranju, arhiviranju te sastav komparativnih studija i komentara. Tematska orijentacija ovog istraživanja ne slijedi upu medijevalista u historiografiji, filologiji, leksikografiji, kodikologiji i paleografiji, skupa s b ografskim/bibliografskim alatima koji su s njima povezani. Prema tome, ne usredotočujemo s na specifične predmoderne autore ili tekstove, niti se zadubljujemo u tehnike uspostavljanj kritičkih izdanja, prijevode popraćene bilješkama, niti analitičke, historijske i komparativne ko mentare. Također, ne nastojimo situirati dano filozofsko nasljeđe unutar njegovih kanala tekstu alne transmisije, niti istražiti njegov tijek razvoja s obzirom na naročito intelektualno podrijetlo Naše je istraživanje zapravo usmjereno na ovu specifičnu konceptualnu vježbu kroz fenomeno lošku hermeneutiku i kritičku analizu teorijskih osnova onih metodologija koje teže istraživanj bitnih pitanja u ontologiji i epistemologiji, koja su povezana s falsafom. Time se ukazuje n transcendiranje pukog komparativizma putem radikalnog oblika propitivanja koje lomi inte lektualne tradicije s jednim drugim propitivanjem koje je utemeljeno na suštinskim historijskim kanalima transmisije u nasljeđivanju filozofskih nasljeđa unutar suvremenih pravaca u mišlje nju. Takav je pothvat usmjeren na različite hipoteze koje izranjaju iz humanističkih disciplin u smislu teorijskih rasprava i ispitivanja o bîti suvremenosti i sondiranju dosad zapriječeni mogućnosti potencijalnog ukorjenjivanja suvremenog mišljenja u naslijeđenim intelektualnim tradicijama, kao i u polučivanju praktične koristi iz modernog mišljenja u istraživanju historij ideja u islamu kao živoj tradiciji.This paper examines the theoretical underpinnings of methodologies that are used in studying falsafa (or what is commonly known as ‘Arabic cum Islamic Philosophy’). The aim is to think about the prospects of renewing selected leitmotifs from the constellation of hybrid philosophical traditions in falsafa, while transcending the conventions of mainstream academia and scholarship, with their bent on documentation, archiving, and the composition of comparative studies and commentaries. The thematic orientation of this inquiry does not follow the directives of mediaevalists in historiography, philology, lexicography, codicology, and palaeography, along with their associated biographical/bibliographical instruments. We do not, therefore, focus on specific pre-modern authors or texts, or ponder over the techniques of establishing critical editions, annotated translations, or analytic, historical, and comparative commentaries. We also do not seek to situate a given philosophical legacy within its channels of textual transmission, or to explore its course of development within a particular intellectual lineage. Our inquiry is rather orientated within this specific conceptual exercise by phenomenological hermeneutics and critical analytics of the theoretical underpinnings of methodologies that aim at examining essential questions in ontology and epistemology in connection with falsafa. This points to transcending mere comparativism through a radical form of questioning that refracts intellectual traditions with one another based on substantiated historical channels of transmission by inheriting past philosophical legacies within contemporary pathways in thinking. Such an undertaking addresses multifactorial hypotheses that emerge from the humanistic disciplines in terms of theoretical disputations and interrogations over the essence of modernity and of probing the hitherto locked possibilities of potentially rooting contemporary thought in inherited intellectual legacies, and also in benefiting from modern thinking in exploring the history of ideas in Islam as a living tradition.Ce travail recherche les principes méthodologiques théoriques utilisés dans l’étude de la falsafa (ce qui est communément connu sous le nom de « philosophie arabe et islamique »). Le but est de penser les possibilités de renouvellement de certains leitmotivs, sélectionnés sur la base d’une constellation de traditions philosophiques hybrides présentes dans la falsafa, tout en transcendant les conventions des principaux courants académiques et de leur enseignement, mais également en se penchant sur leur intérêt pour la documentation, l’archivage et l’élaboration d’études comparées et de commentaires. L’orientation thématique de cette recherche ne se tient pas aux instructions médiévales concernant l’historiographie, la philologie, la lexicographie, la codicologie, et la paléographie, ensemble avec leurs outils biographiques/bibliographiques. A partir de là, nous ne nous concentrons pas sur les auteurs et les textes pré-modernes et n’entrons pas en profondeur dans les techniques de mise en place d’éditions critiques, de traductions annotées, ou encore, de commentaires analytiques, historiques et comparés. De même, nous ne cherchons ni à situer l’héritage philosophique donné à l’intérieur des canaux de transmission textuelle, ni à explorer le cours de son développement en regard d’une lignée philosophique particulière. Notre recherche est davantage orientée vers cet exercice conceptuel spécifique, à travers la phénoménologie herméneutique et l’analyse critique des principes méthodologiques, qui s’applique à rechercher les questions essentielles en ontologie et en épistémologie, à savoir les questions liées à la falsafa. Ainsi, nous mettons l’accent sur le dépassement du simple comparatisme à travers une forme de questionnement radical qui rompt avec la tradition philosophique par le biais d’un autre questionnement, fondé sur des canaux historiques essentiels de transmission qui ont hérité du patrimoine philosophique à l’intérieur des lignes contemporaines de pensée. Une entreprise de la sorte se concentre sur les diverses hypothèses qui émergent des disciplines humaines en termes de débats théoriques et d’interrogations portant sur l’essence de la modernité, et examine les possibilités, jusqu’alors fermées, d’un enracinement potentiel de la pensée contemporaine dans l’héritage du patrimoine intellectuel, tout en recherchant les gains d’ordre pratique résultant de la pensée moderne dans le cadre de sa recherche sur l’histoire des idées dans l’islam en tant que tradition vivante.Diese Abhandlung untersucht die theoretischen Grundlagen von Methodologien, die bei der Erforschung der Falsafa (oder was gemeinhin als „arabische und islamische Philosophie“ bekannt ist) verwendet werden. Die Intention ist es, über die Perspektiven der Erneuerung ausgewählter Leitmotive aus der Konstellation hybrider philosophischer Traditionen in Falsafa nachzudenken, während man die Konventionen der vorherrschenden akademischen Welt und der Gelehrsamkeit, mit deren Hang zur Dokumentierung, Archivierung sowie zur Komposition von komparativen Forschungen und Kommentaren, transzendiert. Die thematische Orientierung dieser Forschung folgt nicht den Richtlinien der Mediävisten in der Geschichtsschreibung, Philologie, Lexikografie, Kodikologie sowie der Paläografie, zusammen mit ihren dazugehörigen biografischen/bibliografischen Instrumenten. Wir fokussieren uns daher weder auf spezifische vormoderne Autoren oder Texte, noch vertiefen wir uns in die Techniken der Schaffung kritischer Ausgaben, der Übersetzungen mit Anmerkungen oder analytischer, historischer und komparativer Kommentare. Wir versuchen auch nicht, das gegebene philosophische Erbe innerhalb seiner Kanäle der Texttransmission zu situieren oder dessen Entwicklungsverlauf innerhalb einer bestimmten intellektuellen Abstammung zu erforschen. Ausgerichtet ist unsere Untersuchung vielmehr auf die spezifische konzeptuelle Übung durch phänomenologische Hermeneutik und kritische Analytik der theoretischen Grundlagen jener Methodologien, die darauf abzielen, wesentliche Fragen in der Ontologie und Epistemologie im Zusammenhang mit Falsafa zu inspizieren. Dies deutet auf die Transzendierung des bloßen Komparativismus durch eine radikale Form der Forschung hin, die mit intellektuellen Traditionen bricht, zusammen mit einer anderen Forschung, die auf der Grundlage fundierter historischer Transmissionskanäle in der Vererbung vergangener philosophischer Hinterlassenschaften innerhalb der zeitgenössischen Denkbahnen fußt. Ein solches Unternehmen adressiert multifaktorielle Hypothesen, die aus den humanistischen Disziplinen hervorgehen, unter dem Aspekt der theoretischen Disputationen und Befragungen über das Wesen der Modernität und der Sondierung der bislang versperrten Möglichkeiten der potenziellen Verwurzelung des zeitgenössischen Gedankens in geerbten intellektuellen Vermächtnissen, wie auch im Profitieren von dem modernen Denken bei der Erforschung der Ideengeschichte des Islam als lebendige Tradition

Founding figures and commentators in Arabic mathematics: a history of Arabic sciences and mathematics volume 1

In this unique insight into the history and philosophy of mathematics and science in the mediaeval Arab world, the eminent scholar Roshdi Rashed illuminates the various historical, textual and epistemic threads that underpinned the history of Arabic mathematical and scientific knowledge up to the seventeenth century. The first of five wide-ranging and comprehensive volumes, this book provides a detailed exploration of Arabic mathematics and sciences in the ninth and tenth centuries. Extensive and detailed analyses and annotations support a number of key Arabic texts, which are translated here into English for the first time. In this volume Rashed focuses on the traditions of celebrated polymaths from the ninth and tenth centuries 'School of Baghdad' - such as the Banu Musa, Thabit ibn Qurra, Ibrahim ibn Sinan, Abu Ja'far al-Khazin, Abu Sahl Wayjan ibn Rustam al-Quhi - and eleventh-century Andalusian mathematicians like Abu al-Qasim ibn al-Samh, and al-Mutaman ibn Hud. The Archimedean-Apollonian traditions of these polymaths are thematically explored to illustrate the historical and epistemological development of 'infinitesimal mathematics' as it became more clearly articulated in the eleventh-century influential legacy of al-Hasan ibn al-Haytham ('Alhazen'). Contributing to a more informed and balanced understanding of the internal currents of the history of mathematics and the exact sciences in Islam, and of its adaptive interpretation and assimilation in the European context, this fundamental text will appeal to historians of ideas, epistemologists, mathematicians at the most advanced levels of research

Recto verso: redefining the sketchbook

Bringing together a broad range of contributors including art, architecture, and design academic theorists and historians, in addition to practicing artists, architects, and designers, this volume explores the place of the sketchbook in contemporary art and architecture. Drawing upon a diverse range of theories, practices, and reflections common to the contemporary conceptualisation of the sketchbook and its associated environments, it offers a dialogue in which the sketchbook can be understood as a pivotal working tool that contributes to the creative process and the formulation and production of visual ideas. Along with exploring the theoretical, philosophical, psychological, and curatorial implications of the sketchbook, the book addresses emergent digital practices by way of examining contemporary developments in sketchbook productions and pedagogical applications. Consequently, these more recent developments question the validity of the sketchbook as both an instrument of practice and creativity, and as an educational device. International in scope, it not only explores European intellectual and artistic traditions, but also intercultural and cross-cultural perspectives, including reviews of practices in Chinese artworks or Islamic calligraphy, and situational contexts that deal with historical examples, such as Roman art, or modern practices in geographical-cultural regions like Pakistan