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Anxiety and Wonder: On Being Human
by Dr Maria BalaskaAt times, we find ourselves unexpectedly immersed in a mood that lacks any clear object or identifiable cause. These uncanny moments tend to be hastily dismissed as inconsequential, left without explanation. Maria Balaska examines two such cases: wonder and anxiety – what it means to prepare for them, what life may look like after experiencing them, and what insights we can take from those experiences.For Kierkegaard anxiety is a door to freedom, for Heidegger wonder is a distress that opens us to the truth of Being, and for Wittgenstein wonder and anxiety are deeply connected to the ethical. Drawing on themes from these thinkers and bringing them into dialogue, Balaska argues that in our encounters with nothing we encounter the very potential of our existence. Most importantly, we confront what is most inconspicuous and fundamental about the human condition and what makes it possible to encounter anything at all: our distinct capacity for making sense of things.
An Apostle for Atheists: Paul and the Quest for Radical Philosophy
by Dr Ole Jakob LølandWhat is a modern philosopher to make of Paul, the apostle? What do non-Christian philosophers in Europe gain from reading ancient letters from Christianity's first great ideologue, and letters addressed to groups of people lost to time? To ask this question is to acknowledge that despite religious faith being regarded by many as a stage that our modern societies have left behind, contemporary philosophers are confronted with questions such as multiculturalism and religious fundamentalism in the wake of immigration and the increasing presence of religious minorities.The Letters of Paul have gained the interest of several philosophers, and the interpretations of the apostle have taken many forms. Looking closely at Paul's letters which have gained most interest from atheist philosophers, The First Letter to the Corinthians and the Letter to the Romans, this book offers an overview of the various ways they have been understood. It pays close attention also to the readings of Paul in the three thinkers, Friedrich Nietzsche and Sigmund Freud – canonized as two of the great pillars of the modern critique of religion – with Spinoza as one of their important predecessors. Confronting these readings with insights not only from the more recent philosophical readings of the apostle but also from historical-critical scholarship on the Bible, this book lifts the veil over a new picture of the apostle as a figure with potential value for non-Christians and atheists.An Apostle for Atheists leaves us with ideas that compel us to reconsider Paul's negative reputation for secular modernity and appreciate him as a figure of a radically new politics as well as a renewed psychoanalysis.
Arab-Israel Normalisation of Ties: Global Perspectives
by Najimdeen BakareThis book focuses on rapprochement and normalisation between Israel and some Arab countries within the context of global and regional geopolitics, bringing together broader perspectives on transformations resulting from this. The analysis is rooted in a historical and cultural construction of the region as an Islamic sphere viewing Israel as a perpetuation of the Western colonial project in the region. It analyses how this normalisation must not be treated as a novel phenomenon, but as a reconstruction of the past and continuity in tradition geared at regional stability, signifying a wider shift in the structure of the global international system. The first section addresses the international perspectives of the changing dynamics through the lens of US domestic politics, disengagement plans, China’s increasing understanding of the geopolitics of the Abrahamic world. It equally pays enough attention to the attendant implications of this normalisation. The second section of the book explores the reflections of regional (state and non-state) actors, such as Turkey, Iran, Syria, Pakistan, and Hezbollah, and the catalysing effects of this normalisation within and beyond the region. The book is a rich resource for scholars of regional and international relations, in particular Middle East studies. It provides useful reading material for both undergraduate and graduate students of Political Science, think tanks, diplomats, and IR experts and policy analysts, who are desirous of having rich theoretical and empirical underpinnings of unfolding realities in the larger Middle East.
Architectures of Existence: Ethics, Aesthetics, Politics
by Chris YounèsArchitectures of Existence proposes that philosophical thinking (ecosophical thinking) can inform the way we engage with our world and its inhabitants, as architects, designers and planners, but also as individuals, as people, and as a society. In Art et existence, Maldiney states: "For us, to inhabit is to exist". This book aims to unfold, extend, articulate and thicken this postulate by interweaving architecture, city, landscape, literature and philosophy. It takes up the synergistic lines of long-term research carried out from an ecosophical perspective. Such an attitude explores an art of existing in multiplicity, singularity and openness, manifesting the critical dimension through a reinterpretation of the knotting of the trajectories of time, humanity and its becoming. Insisting on what is between things and beings as well as on what is happening, regenerating, recycling, reviving, saving, diversifying, sparing, recreating, meditating: and so caring. These are all eco-rhythms of a different type between human and non-human, to consider ourselves in the world. In an era of uncertainty and climate threats, this book develops the margins of possibility offered by the subject of architecture. This book will be of interest to researchers and students of architecture, urban planning and philosophy.
Architectures of Existence: Ethics, Aesthetics, Politics
by Chris YounèsArchitectures of Existence proposes that philosophical thinking (ecosophical thinking) can inform the way we engage with our world and its inhabitants, as architects, designers and planners, but also as individuals, as people, and as a society. In Art et existence, Maldiney states: "For us, to inhabit is to exist". This book aims to unfold, extend, articulate and thicken this postulate by interweaving architecture, city, landscape, literature and philosophy. It takes up the synergistic lines of long-term research carried out from an ecosophical perspective. Such an attitude explores an art of existing in multiplicity, singularity and openness, manifesting the critical dimension through a reinterpretation of the knotting of the trajectories of time, humanity and its becoming. Insisting on what is between things and beings as well as on what is happening, regenerating, recycling, reviving, saving, diversifying, sparing, recreating, meditating: and so caring. These are all eco-rhythms of a different type between human and non-human, to consider ourselves in the world. In an era of uncertainty and climate threats, this book develops the margins of possibility offered by the subject of architecture. This book will be of interest to researchers and students of architecture, urban planning and philosophy.
Are Statistics Only Made of Data?: Know-how and Presupposition from the 17th and 19th Centuries (Methodos Series #20)
by Éric BrianThis book examines several epistemological regimes in studies of numerical data over the last four centuries. It distinguishes these regimes and mobilises questions present in the philosophy of science, sociology and historical works throughout the 20th century. Attention is given to the skills of scholars and their methods, their assumptions, and the socio-historical conditions that made calculations and their interpretations possible. In doing so, questions posed as early as Émile Durkheim’s and Ernst Cassirer’s ones are revisited and the concept of symbolic form is put to the test in this particular survey, conducted over long period of time. Although distinct from a methodological and epistemological point of view, today these regimes may be found together in the toolbox of statisticians and those who comment on their conclusions. As such, the book is addressed to social scientists and historians and all those who are interested in numerical productions.
Are You an Illusion? (Routledge Classics)
by Mary MidgleyIn an impassioned defence of the importance of our own thoughts, feelings and experiences, the renowned philosopher Mary Midgley shows that there’s much more to our selves than a jumble of brain cells. Exploring the remarkable gap that has opened up between our understanding of our sense of self and today’s science, Midgley argues powerfully and persuasively that the rich variety of our imaginative life cannot be contained in the narrow bounds of a highly puritanical materialism that simply equates brain and self. Engaging with the work of prominent thinkers, Midgley investigates the source of our current attitudes to the self and reveals how ideas, traditions and myths have been twisted to fit in, seemingly naturally, with science’s current preoccupation with the physical and material. Midgley shows that the subjective sources of thought – our own experiences – are every bit as necessary in helping to explain the world as the objective ones such as brain cells. Are You an Illusion? offers a salutary analysis of science’s claim to have done away with the self and a characteristic injection of common sense from one of our most respected philosophers into a debate increasingly in need of it. This Routledge Classics edition includes a new Foreword by Stephen Cave.
Are You an Illusion? (Routledge Classics)
by Mary MidgleyIn an impassioned defence of the importance of our own thoughts, feelings and experiences, the renowned philosopher Mary Midgley shows that there’s much more to our selves than a jumble of brain cells. Exploring the remarkable gap that has opened up between our understanding of our sense of self and today’s science, Midgley argues powerfully and persuasively that the rich variety of our imaginative life cannot be contained in the narrow bounds of a highly puritanical materialism that simply equates brain and self. Engaging with the work of prominent thinkers, Midgley investigates the source of our current attitudes to the self and reveals how ideas, traditions and myths have been twisted to fit in, seemingly naturally, with science’s current preoccupation with the physical and material. Midgley shows that the subjective sources of thought – our own experiences – are every bit as necessary in helping to explain the world as the objective ones such as brain cells. Are You an Illusion? offers a salutary analysis of science’s claim to have done away with the self and a characteristic injection of common sense from one of our most respected philosophers into a debate increasingly in need of it. This Routledge Classics edition includes a new Foreword by Stephen Cave.
Argentina’s Right-Wing Universe During the Democratic Period: Processes, Actors and Issues (Routledge Studies in Fascism and the Far Right)
Argentina’s Right-Wing Universe During the Democratic Period provides a comprehensive analysis of the course of right-wing politics in the country in the last 40 years. In 1983, after the fall of a violent military regime, Argentina began the longest period of democratic stability in its history—40 years marked by economic, institutional, social and political crises. This book examines the trajectory of the different right-wing organisations and ideological developments during these years, seeking to understand both the distinctions and the continuities that lie beneath its metamorphoses. Argentina has always acted as a laboratory in which to appreciate how the major problems and questions that concern those who have studied the right-wing in recent decades are translated into a particular political culture. In an international scenario marked by the social and political growth of different right-wing movements, some of which pose a threat to liberal democracies, the study of the Argentine case can provide greater clarity and a different perspective on problems that transcend this specific national case. This book will be of interest to scholars of Argentinian and Latin American politics and history, as well as specialists on the comparative politics of the radical right.
Argentina’s Right-Wing Universe During the Democratic Period: Processes, Actors and Issues (Routledge Studies in Fascism and the Far Right)
by Gisela Pereyra Doval Gastón SouroujonArgentina’s Right-Wing Universe During the Democratic Period provides a comprehensive analysis of the course of right-wing politics in the country in the last 40 years. In 1983, after the fall of a violent military regime, Argentina began the longest period of democratic stability in its history—40 years marked by economic, institutional, social and political crises. This book examines the trajectory of the different right-wing organisations and ideological developments during these years, seeking to understand both the distinctions and the continuities that lie beneath its metamorphoses. Argentina has always acted as a laboratory in which to appreciate how the major problems and questions that concern those who have studied the right-wing in recent decades are translated into a particular political culture. In an international scenario marked by the social and political growth of different right-wing movements, some of which pose a threat to liberal democracies, the study of the Argentine case can provide greater clarity and a different perspective on problems that transcend this specific national case. This book will be of interest to scholars of Argentinian and Latin American politics and history, as well as specialists on the comparative politics of the radical right.
The Aristotelian Mirabilia and Early Peripatetic Natural Science (Rutgers University Studies in Classical Humanities)
by Arnaud ZuckerThis is the first volume devoted to the sections of the Aristotelian Mirabilia on natural science, filling a significant gap in the history of the Aristotelian study of nature and especially of animals. The chapters in this volume explore the Mirabilia, or De mirabilibus auscultationibus (On Marvelous Things Heard), and its engagement with the natural sciences. The first two chapters deliver an introduction to this work: one a discussion of the history of the text; the other a discussion of Aristotelian epistemology and methodology, and the role of the Mirabilia in that context. This is followed by eight chapters that, together, are effectively a commentary on those sections of the Mirabilia with close connections to Aristotle’s Historia animalium and to a number of Theophrastus’ scientific treatises. Finally, the volume ends with two chapters on thematic topics connected to natural science running throughout the work, namely color and disease. The Aristotelian Mirabilia and Early Peripatetic Natural Science should prove invaluable to scholars and students interested in the ancient Greek study of nature, ancient philosophy, and Aristotelian science in particular.
The Aristotelian Mirabilia and Early Peripatetic Natural Science (Rutgers University Studies in Classical Humanities)
This is the first volume devoted to the sections of the Aristotelian Mirabilia on natural science, filling a significant gap in the history of the Aristotelian study of nature and especially of animals. The chapters in this volume explore the Mirabilia, or De mirabilibus auscultationibus (On Marvelous Things Heard), and its engagement with the natural sciences. The first two chapters deliver an introduction to this work: one a discussion of the history of the text; the other a discussion of Aristotelian epistemology and methodology, and the role of the Mirabilia in that context. This is followed by eight chapters that, together, are effectively a commentary on those sections of the Mirabilia with close connections to Aristotle’s Historia animalium and to a number of Theophrastus’ scientific treatises. Finally, the volume ends with two chapters on thematic topics connected to natural science running throughout the work, namely color and disease. The Aristotelian Mirabilia and Early Peripatetic Natural Science should prove invaluable to scholars and students interested in the ancient Greek study of nature, ancient philosophy, and Aristotelian science in particular.
The Armenian Social Democrat Hnchakian Party: Politics, Ideology and Transnational History (Armenians in the Modern and Early Modern World)
by Bedross Der MatossianThis book, based on new research, sheds light on the history of the Social Democrat Hnchakian Party, a major Armenian revolutionary party that operated in the Ottoman Empire, Russia, Persia and throughout the global Armenian diaspora. Divided into sections which cover the origins, ideology, and regional history of the SDHP, the book situates the history of the Hnchaks within debates around socialism, populism, and nationalism in the 19th and 20th centuries. The SDHP was not only an Armenian party but had a global Marxist outlook, and scholars in this volume bring to bear expertise in a wide range of histories and languages including Russian, Turkish, Persian and Latin American to trace the emergence and role this influential party played from their split with the Armenian Revolutionary Federation and the events of the Armenian genocide to the formation of the first Armenian Republic and then Soviet Armenia. Putting the Hnchaks in context as one of many nationalist radical groups to emerge in Eurasia in the late 19th century, the book is an important contribution to Armenian historiography as well as that of transnational revolutionary movements in general.
Art and Entertainment: A Philosophical Exploration
by Andy HamiltonPhilosophers have discussed art – or artistic practices such as poetry – since ancient times. But systems of art and entertainment appeared only in the modern era – in the West, during the 18th and 19th centuries. And philosophers have largely neglected the concept of entertainment. In this book Andy Hamilton explores art and entertainment from a philosophical standpoint. He argues, against modernist theory, that art and entertainment are not opposites, but form a loosely connected conceptual system. Against postmodernism, however, he insists on their vital differences.Hamilton begins by questioning the received modernist view, examining artist-entertainers including Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday. Entertainment, he argues, is by nature audience-centred – but so is art, in a different way. Thus while art should pass the test of time, entertainment must pass the test of its own time – it has to entertain at the time it is produced. Art and entertainment are inter-dependent concepts, and must be understood together with other aesthetic concepts including criticism, genius, canons and design. These concepts form the subject of later chapters of this book, where Hamilton develops a meritocratic position that is neither elitist nor populist. He also addresses the contemporary charge of cultural appropriation, and qualifies it.An innovative feature of the book is the inclusion of dialogues with artists, critics and academics that help to recast or reformulate the debate. Art and Entertainment: A Philosophical Exploration is essential reading for those working in art and aesthetics, and will also be of interest to those in related disciplines such as cultural studies, music and film studies, with an interest in entertainment.
Art and Entertainment: A Philosophical Exploration
by Andy HamiltonPhilosophers have discussed art – or artistic practices such as poetry – since ancient times. But systems of art and entertainment appeared only in the modern era – in the West, during the 18th and 19th centuries. And philosophers have largely neglected the concept of entertainment. In this book Andy Hamilton explores art and entertainment from a philosophical standpoint. He argues, against modernist theory, that art and entertainment are not opposites, but form a loosely connected conceptual system. Against postmodernism, however, he insists on their vital differences.Hamilton begins by questioning the received modernist view, examining artist-entertainers including Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday. Entertainment, he argues, is by nature audience-centred – but so is art, in a different way. Thus while art should pass the test of time, entertainment must pass the test of its own time – it has to entertain at the time it is produced. Art and entertainment are inter-dependent concepts, and must be understood together with other aesthetic concepts including criticism, genius, canons and design. These concepts form the subject of later chapters of this book, where Hamilton develops a meritocratic position that is neither elitist nor populist. He also addresses the contemporary charge of cultural appropriation, and qualifies it.An innovative feature of the book is the inclusion of dialogues with artists, critics and academics that help to recast or reformulate the debate. Art and Entertainment: A Philosophical Exploration is essential reading for those working in art and aesthetics, and will also be of interest to those in related disciplines such as cultural studies, music and film studies, with an interest in entertainment.
The Art Experience: An Introduction to Philosophy and the Arts
by Alex RajcziThe Art Experience: An Introduction to Philosophy and the Arts takes readers on an engaging and accessible journey that explores a series of fundamental questions about the nature of art and aesthetic value. The book’s 12 chapters explore three questions: What makes something a work of art? How should we experience art to get the most out of it? Once we understand art, how should we evaluate whether it is good or bad? Philosophical theory is illustrated with concrete examples: the paintings of Frida Kahlo, the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, the masks of the Nso people, and many others. Classic questions are balanced with cutting-edge challenges, such as Linda Nochlin’s work on the exclusion of women from the artistic canon.The Art Experience presupposes no prior knowledge of philosophy or art, and it will be of interest to any reader seeking an accessible and engaging introduction to this field. Along the way, readers learn how philosophical theories can affect our real-world experiences with painting, music, theater, and many other art forms.Key Features Accessible for any college student: assumes no knowledge of philosophy, art theory, or any artistic medium Organizes topics conceptually, rather than historically, allowing students to more easily grasp the core issues themselves rather than tracing their historical evolution Offers readers a large number of contemporary examples and a consistent focus on the way theory can affect people’s real-world experiences with art Explores questions about bias – for example, whether the artistic canon has excluded some groups unfairly and whether definitions of art are Western-biased
The Art Experience: An Introduction to Philosophy and the Arts
by Alex RajcziThe Art Experience: An Introduction to Philosophy and the Arts takes readers on an engaging and accessible journey that explores a series of fundamental questions about the nature of art and aesthetic value. The book’s 12 chapters explore three questions: What makes something a work of art? How should we experience art to get the most out of it? Once we understand art, how should we evaluate whether it is good or bad? Philosophical theory is illustrated with concrete examples: the paintings of Frida Kahlo, the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, the masks of the Nso people, and many others. Classic questions are balanced with cutting-edge challenges, such as Linda Nochlin’s work on the exclusion of women from the artistic canon.The Art Experience presupposes no prior knowledge of philosophy or art, and it will be of interest to any reader seeking an accessible and engaging introduction to this field. Along the way, readers learn how philosophical theories can affect our real-world experiences with painting, music, theater, and many other art forms.Key Features Accessible for any college student: assumes no knowledge of philosophy, art theory, or any artistic medium Organizes topics conceptually, rather than historically, allowing students to more easily grasp the core issues themselves rather than tracing their historical evolution Offers readers a large number of contemporary examples and a consistent focus on the way theory can affect people’s real-world experiences with art Explores questions about bias – for example, whether the artistic canon has excluded some groups unfairly and whether definitions of art are Western-biased
Artificial Dispositions: Investigating Ethical and Metaphysical Issues
by William A. Bauer and Anna MarmodoroWe inhabit a world not only full of natural dispositions independent of human design, but also artificial dispositions created by our technological prowess. How do these dispositions, found in automation, computation, and artificial intelligence applications, differ metaphysically from their natural counterparts? This collection investigates artificial dispositions: what they are, the roles they play in artificial systems, and how they impact our understanding of the nature of reality, the structure of minds, and the ethics of emerging technologies. It is divided into four parts covering the following interconnected themes: (i) Artificial and Natural Dispositions, (ii) Artificial Systems and Their Dispositions, (iii) Agency, Mind, and Artificial Dispositions, and (iv) Artificial Moral Dispositions. This is a groundbreaking and thought-provoking resource for any student or scholar of philosophy of science, contemporary metaphysics, applied ethics, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of technology.
An Artificial History of Natural Intelligence: Thinking with Machines from Descartes to the Digital Age
by David W. BatesA new history of human intelligence that argues that humans know themselves by knowing their machines. We imagine that we are both in control of and controlled by our bodies—autonomous and yet automatic. This entanglement, according to David W. Bates, emerged in the seventeenth century when humans first built and compared themselves with machines. Reading varied thinkers from Descartes to Kant to Turing, Bates reveals how time and time again technological developments offered new ways to imagine how the body’s automaticity worked alongside the mind’s autonomy. Tracing these evolving lines of thought, An Artificial History of Natural Intelligence offers a new theorization of the human as a being that is dependent on technology and produces itself as an artificial automaton without a natural, outside origin.
An Artificial History of Natural Intelligence: Thinking with Machines from Descartes to the Digital Age
by David W. BatesA new history of human intelligence that argues that humans know themselves by knowing their machines. We imagine that we are both in control of and controlled by our bodies—autonomous and yet automatic. This entanglement, according to David W. Bates, emerged in the seventeenth century when humans first built and compared themselves with machines. Reading varied thinkers from Descartes to Kant to Turing, Bates reveals how time and time again technological developments offered new ways to imagine how the body’s automaticity worked alongside the mind’s autonomy. Tracing these evolving lines of thought, An Artificial History of Natural Intelligence offers a new theorization of the human as a being that is dependent on technology and produces itself as an artificial automaton without a natural, outside origin.
Artificial Intelligence Governance and the Blockchain Revolution (Artificial Intelligence and the Rule of Law)
by Qiqi Gao Jiteng ZhangThis is the first professional academic work in China to discuss artificial intelligence and blockchain together. Artificial intelligence is a productivity revolution, and its development has a significant and profound impact on global changes. However, at the same time, its development also brings a series of challenges to human society, such as privacy, security, and fairness issues. Therefore, the significance of blockchain is even more prominent. Blockchain is a revolution in production relations, which will propose important solutions to the challenges of privacy, security, and fairness that arise after the development of artificial intelligence. The book not only discusses the problems currently faced by the development of artificial intelligence, as well as the new opportunities and challenges that artificial intelligence brings to future global governance, but also explains the further development direction of the intelligent revolution from the perspective of blockchain.
As If Human: Ethics and Artificial Intelligence
by Nigel Shadbolt Roger HampsonA new approach to the challenges surrounding artificial intelligence that argues for assessing AI actions as if they came from a human being Intelligent machines present us every day with urgent ethical challenges. Is the facial recognition software used by an agency fair? When algorithms determine questions of justice, finance, health, and defense, are the decisions proportionate, equitable, transparent, and accountable? How do we harness this extraordinary technology to empower rather than oppress? Despite increasingly sophisticated programming, artificial intelligences share none of our essential human characteristics—sentience, physical sensation, emotional responsiveness, versatile general intelligence. However, Nigel Shadbolt and Roger Hampson argue, if we assess AI decisions, products, and calls for action as if they came from a human being, we can avert a disastrous and amoral future. The authors go beyond the headlines about rampant robots to apply established moral principles in shaping our AI future. Their new framework constitutes a how-to for building a more ethical machine intelligence.
The Attitude of Agnosticism
by null Avery ArcherWe often describe ourselves as agnostic on a wide range of topics, such as does God exist, is String Theory true, or will the President win re-election? But what, precisely, does it mean to be agnostic? This monograph employs the tools and techniques of analytic philosophy to offer a broad account of what it means to be agnostic in both theological and non-theological contexts, and offers a critical discussion of the major descriptive accounts of agnosticism in the contemporary analytic philosophical literature. Unlike most other volumes on the subject, which approach the question from a theological point of view, this is the first book-length discussion of agnosticism from a purely philosophical, as opposed to theological, point of view. It serves as a natural starting-point for students and specialists in philosophy and anyone who is interested in the topic of agnosticism through the lens of analytic philosophy.
The Attributes of God in Islamic Thought: Contemplating Allah (Routledge Studies in Islamic Philosophy)
by Mansooreh KhalilizandThe debate over Allah’s attribute—the “nature” and the inner articulation of Allah—is one of the focal debates in the intellectual history of Islam. This edited collection aims to highlight and examine some aspects of this debate in their original context, based on the relevant primary literature.By showing that even an apparently self-evident concept such as Allah, which lies at the heart of every reading of Islam, is highly ambiguous and polysemous, the chapters also emphasise the plurality that has always existed in Islamic thought. Through highlighting the philosophical and theological reflections on the concept of Allah, the results of this study challenge the juristic reading of Islam, in which Allah’s function consists mainly in providing a detailed plan for the human life and also rewarding or punishing the ones who deviates from it. The book also attempts to demonstrate the relevance and the actuality of the tradition and to stress its contemporaneity.This volume makes a significant part of the intellectual tradition of Islam accessible for students and scholars of Islamic theology, Islamic philosophy, Islamic studies and the like, as well as providing a secondary source for teaching on the debate in question.
The Attributes of God in Islamic Thought: Contemplating Allah (Routledge Studies in Islamic Philosophy)
The debate over Allah’s attribute—the “nature” and the inner articulation of Allah—is one of the focal debates in the intellectual history of Islam. This edited collection aims to highlight and examine some aspects of this debate in their original context, based on the relevant primary literature.By showing that even an apparently self-evident concept such as Allah, which lies at the heart of every reading of Islam, is highly ambiguous and polysemous, the chapters also emphasise the plurality that has always existed in Islamic thought. Through highlighting the philosophical and theological reflections on the concept of Allah, the results of this study challenge the juristic reading of Islam, in which Allah’s function consists mainly in providing a detailed plan for the human life and also rewarding or punishing the ones who deviates from it. The book also attempts to demonstrate the relevance and the actuality of the tradition and to stress its contemporaneity.This volume makes a significant part of the intellectual tradition of Islam accessible for students and scholars of Islamic theology, Islamic philosophy, Islamic studies and the like, as well as providing a secondary source for teaching on the debate in question.