Oliver Leaman

History of Islamic Philosophy

Islamic philosophy has often been treated as being largely of historical interest, belonging to the history of ideas rather than to philosophical study. This volume successfully overturns that view. Emphasizing the living nature and rich diversity of the subject, it examines the main thinkers and schools of thought, discusses the key concepts of Islamic philosophy and covers a vast geographical area. Now available in paperback, this indispensable reference tool includes a comprehensive bibliography and an extensive index.

Encyclopedia of Asian Philosophy

Incorporating cultural and religious contexts, this unique Encyclopedia provides a vital guide to the main concepts and thinkers in Asian philosophy - starting with Abhidharma and ending with Zurvan.The main philosophical trends and thinkers in each geographical area are featured, with an emphasis on endtemporary developments and movements. The A-Z structured encyclopedia emphasizes that Asian philosophy is not merely an ancient form of thought but that it is a living philosophy, with roots in the past, and also a potent and animate presence today. This translates into the reciprocal exchange of theories between Eastern and Western thinking, for example of new schools of thought such as orientalism. Requiring no prior knowledge of philosophy, religion or Asian cultures, this book is essential reading for students, teachers and the interested individual who wishes to gain an understanding of the philosophical basis to Asian cultural systems.

Philosophy vs. Mysticism: an Islamic Controversy

Islamic philosophy makes a sharp distinction between different categories of believers. Some, and indeed most, believers follow Islam in an unquestioning and natural manner. They adhere to the legal requirements of the religion, carry out the basic rules concerning worship, pilgrimage, charity and so on, and generally behave as orthodox and devout Muslims. Some are more devout than others, and some occasionally behave in ways reprehensible to the teachings of Islam, but on the whole for the ordinary believer Islam presents no serious theoretical problems. There may well be practical problems in reconciling what they wish to do with what Islam instructs them to do, but this for most people is not something which leads them to question their faith as such. It merely leads them to wonder how to reconcile in a practical way the rival demands of religion and their personal wishes.

Poetry and the Emotions in Islamic Philosophy

A question in aesthetics that has been discussed for a long time is how far can our aesthetic reactions be taken to be cognitive. That is, we feel certain emotions perhaps when we confront examples of art, and then wonder whether those are just subjective and personal reactions, or do they fall into some rule-governed pattern based upon the nature of the objects themselves and our nature? Sufism tends to regard aesthetic responses as objective, as insights into a deeper level of reality where only one sort of reaction is appropriate, while the Peripatetic philosophers rather argue that although poetry in particular has a logical structure, it does not result in a conclusion that has to be generally accepted. The latter are often criticized for making poetry fit into a logical straitjacket which is inappropriately rigid, but there are good reasons for thinking that the Peripatetic thinkers in the Islamic world are far better at analyzing the role of emotions in poetry than are the Sufis.

An Introduction to Islamic Philosophy: Based on the Works of Murtada Mutahhari by Abd al-Rasul Obudiyyat (review)

1307

An Eleventh-Century Egyptian Guide to the Universe: The Book of Curiosities ed. by Yossef Rapoport and Emilie Savage-Smith (review)

971

The Balkan exception: problems and possibilities in Islamic thought

There has been much discussion recently about what a Balkan Islamic theology consists of, and how it compares to wider moves in theological schools outside of the region. An examination of some of the contemporary trends in the region will provide some perspective on where that form of thought seems to be going. I will argue that the very diverse influences that have existed for so long, and continue to exist today, may prevent the development of a grand theoretical narrative here. On the other hand, such a diversity of approach may better represent the possibility of an Islamic theology that is genuinely European than many of the existing apparent alternatives.

Thinking Historically About Jewish Philosophy

There are two things worth saying right at the start about this book. One is that it is an often excellent collection of essays by some of the main specialists in the area, and anyone interested in Jewish philosophy will find useful material here. The other is that it is not a history, and it occurred to me that in countries which have a trading standards law, a purchaser could sue Cambridge University Press for misrepresenting the product by the title. A more accurate title would be something like ‘Random Collection of Thoughts about Jewish Philosophy’ and I can see that that does not quite have the selling power of its present title, but it would describe what the book actually is. Having said this, I do think the book has many good things in it, but anyone looking for a history of Jewish philosophy will have to look elsewhere. It is an interesting idea to have a book like this organized in terms of themes, but this does bring problems with it, as we shall see. I shall briefly describe each chapter to try to present a sense of the book as a whole, and then a number of difficulties will be discussed. A variety of methodologies are present in the book, and the first three essays illustrate the different ways in which the concept of influence is understood. Kenneth Seeskin discusses the influence of Greek philosophy on Jewish philosophy (and thought in general?), and is incorrigibly vague. Talking about Rashi’s account of the creation of the world, we are told that ‘Although there is no mention of Plato, Rashi’s interpretation of these verses calls to mind a God who creates by bringing order out of chaos’ (21). Further on in the same paragraph, we find ‘The idea of looking to an eternal model to bring order out of chaos may have influenced the rabbinic notion that God looked to the Torah as a model when creating the world’. It is very difficult to know how to judge this sort of comment. Is it an argument, an observation, a casual throwaway remark, or what? The obvious rejoinder is British Journal for the History of Philosophy 18(2) 2010: 321–331

Islamic Philosophy and Western Philosophies

here, but there is no doubt that these papers, and others which I have not discussed, are rewarding both from a philosophical and from a scholarly point of view. As Taylor notes in his introduction, those who work in ancient philosophy are subject to two conflicting pressures. On the one hand there is the pressure to relate their work to the philosophical issues current at the time of writing and on the other to relate it to the historical and intellectual background of the authors they study. On the evidence of this volume, Taylor himself has been conspicuously successful in resolving this conflict.

Community, Covenant and Commitment: Selected Letters and Communications (review)

The Book of Job in Medieval Jewish Philosophy, by Robert Eisen. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. 324 pp.