The Vital Roots of European Enlightenment: Ibn Tufayl's Influence on Modern Western ThoughtThe Vital Roots of European Enlightenment is a collection of essays which deal with the influence of Ibn Tufayl, a 12th-century Arab philosopher from Spain, on major European thinkers. His philosophical novel, Hayy Ibn Yaqzan, could be considered one of the most important books that heralded the Scientific Revolution. Its thoughts are found in different variations and to different degrees in the books of Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Isaac Newton, and Kant. But if Ibn Tufayl's fundamental values, such as equality, freedom and toleration, which the thinkers of the European Enlightenment had adopted as theirs, paved the way to the French Revolution, they certainly marked the end of the age of reason in southern Spain and the rest of the Islamic world. Ibn Tufayl's philosophy was appropriated, subverted, or reinvented for many centuries. But the memory of the man who wrote such an influential book was buried in the dust of history. The Vital Roots of European Enlightenment reexamines Ibn Tufayl's momentous book and its continued influence over contemporary philosophy. This intriguing book will appeal to those interested in comparative literature and religion. |
Contents
Buried in the Dust of History | 1 |
Serving God or Mammon? Echos from Hayy Ibn Yaqzan | 19 |
Hayy Ibn Yaqzan and His Impact | 37 |
Copyright | |
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Other editions - View all
The Vital Roots of European Enlightenment: Ibn Tufayl's Influence on Modern ... Samar Attar No preview available - 2010 |
The Vital Roots of European Enlightenment: Ibn Tufayl's Influence on Modern ... Samar Attar No preview available - 2007 |
Common terms and phrases
Abu Ya'qub Yusuf age of Enlightenment allegory Almohads Andalusian philosopher animals Arabic argues Asal Atkinson Averroes Avicenna Beirut body Cambridge Candide Christian civilization Clash of Civilizations conventional religion critical culture Damascus Daniel Defoe Darwin Defoe's desert island discovers edition eighteenth century Émile England English Enlightenment Essays Europe Extraordinary Voyage French happiness Hayy Ibn Yaqzan Hayy's Hitti human Ibn Rushd Ibn Tufayl ideas influence Islamic Kant king knowledge language Leibniz letter literary live London Mahomet Modern European Thought moral Moslem Muslim Spain narrative nature never observes Ockley Ockley's Oriental Oxford personal identity philosophical novel Pico political published Quakers Rasselas rational reason refers to Hayy religious Robinson Crusoe Roger Pearson Rousseau Sarton scholars scientific scientists Simon Ockley Sinbad the Sailor social society spiritual thesis things thinkers tion toleration trans translation of Hayy truth twelfth century University Press Voltaire Voltaire's Western write York Zadig