Rethinking Ibn 'Arabi

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory A. Lipton
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Thirteenth Century ◽  
Discursive Practices ◽  
Perennial Philosophy ◽  
Ibn Arabi ◽  
Political Divide

For over a century, Euro-American scholars and esotericists alike have heralded the thirteenth-century Spanish mystic Ibn ‘Arabi (d. 1240) as the premodern Sufi theorist of inclusive religious universalism who claimed all contemporaneous religions as equally valid beyond the religio-political divide of medieval exclusivism. Rethinking Ibn ‘Arabi calls into question this Western image of Ibn ‘Arabi and throws into relief how his discourse is inseparably intertwined with the absolutist vision of his own religious milieu—that is, the triumphant claim that Islam fulfilled, superseded, and therefore abrogated all previously revealed religions. By exploring how Ibn ‘Arabi’s ideas have been read, appropriated, and universalized within the regnant interpretative field of Perennial Philosophy in the study of Sufism, Rethinking Ibn ‘Arabi theorizes Ibn ‘Arabi’s own absolutist conception of universalism in juxtaposition to his contemporary universalist reception. The contours that surface through this comparative analysis trace the discursive practices that inform Ibn ‘Arabi’s Western reception back to eighteenth- and nineteenth-century conceptions of “authentic” religion where European ethnoracial superiority is wielded against a Semitic Other—both Jewish and Muslim. Rethinking Ibn ‘Arabi thus argues that in ironically similar ways to Ibn ‘Arabi’s medieval absolutism, contemporary Western universalist constructions of religious authenticity contain buried orders of politics concealing supersessionist models of exclusivism.

Ibn ‘Arabi and the Metaphysics of Race

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory A. Lipton
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Detailed Comparison ◽  
Discursive Practices ◽  
Discursive Strategies ◽  
Racial Exclusion ◽  
Ibn Arabi

This chapter reveals a buried order of politics underneath the Perennialist cosmology of religious universalism ironically constituted through long-held European discursive strategies of racial exclusion. Through a detailed comparison of Frithjof Schuon’s discursive practices with that of nineteenth-century Aryanist discourse, this chapter argues that although Schuon claims to recognize the universal validity of all religions beyond the limits of exoteric exclusivity, his work consistently presents as self-evident the metaphysical superiority of an Indo-European spiritual typology over that of the Semitic. Here, Ibn ‘Arabi’s “Semitic” propensity for subjectivism is understood as lacking the enlightened objectivity necessary to consistently discern the transcendent formlessness of essential truth from religious particularism. The extent to which Ibn ‘Arabi is thus decoupled from so-called Semitic subjectivism is the extent to which he is claimed to be an enlightened representative of Islam and authentic purveyor of the universal core of all religions—the religio perennis.

A comparative analysis of the Slovenian particles še and že against the background of the Russian language

2020 ◽  
pp. 324-345
Author(s):  
Mariya L. Kuleshоva ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Time Axis ◽  
Temporal Modifiers ◽  
The Russian Language ◽  
Negative Form

The article compares the Slovenian particles še and že mainly with the Russian particles еще and уже. Unlike the Russian particle уже, the Slovenian particle že cannot be combined with the negative form of the verb: instead of it, the adverb več is used in such contexts. The most subtle differences between the Slovenian and Russian languages are found in the combinations of še and že with temporal modifiers, where the so-called “plot time” is characteristic of the Slovenian language. The event is interpreted as localized on the time axis, not from the perspective of the «speaker’s time», which is manifested in the possibility of using že in such contexts as umrl je že v devetnajstem stoletju (he died in the nineteenth century already). Moreover, že is not able to express the meaning ‘no earlier / no later than’, because the particle šele replaces it in this function. The author comes to the conclusion that Slovenian particles are more widely used as modal than their Russian equivalents. The particle še has numerous intensifying functions, correlating with the functions of Russian particles даже, еще и, и. The particle že can be used in the same way as two Russian words уже and уж. In contrast to уж, že does not always express displeasure and can add the meaning of a concession to the statement.

scholarly journals TAMIL NAAVALAR – PIRATHIPOTA AARAYCHI

2019 ◽  
pp. 459-466
Author(s):  
R. Abinaya
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Comparative Analysis

Ancient Tamil texts ascended to the nineteenth century edition. Subsequently, when there is a reprint or text to the book, there may be some changes to the book, depending on the value and need of a book. The changes that have been made continue to this day. Some of these changes make some mistakes in the version. False versions cause the author to misunderstand the material. For example, the syllables found in the versions that are considered to be one of these types of mistakes are "'yenri' is 'yinri', 'woozhi kalathir’ is ‘woozhi kaaaththu’, ‘yaahavum’ is ‘yaahiyum’, ‘vaaimaiyir’ is ‘vaaimaiyung’ ‘themmaiyung’ is ‘themmai’" They found the text in the Tamil novelist story explaining the proposed article. Moreover, the descriptive and comparative analysis have been used for this article.

scholarly journals Yakym Yarema’s philosophical and pedagogical ideas in discursive practices of education

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 313-327
Author(s):  
Olha Honcharenko
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Educational Practices ◽  
Discursive Practices ◽  
Educational Discourse ◽  
Philosophical School ◽  
Franz Brentano

In this paper on the basis of comparative analysis the similarity of Yakym Yarema’s and Kazimierz Twardowski’s main philosophical and pedagogical ideas has been identified. The analysis of these ideas proves that Ukrainian scientist represents Twardowski’s educational practices as well as reflects the traditions of Vienna philosophical school by Franz Brentano which history goes back to Aristotle’s philosophy. The value of Yakym Yarema’s philosophical and pedagogical ideas in the present educational discourse has been shown in the article.

Advertisements and Ephemera

2020 ◽  
pp. 152-185
Author(s):  
Amanda Brickell Bellows
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Marketing Strategies ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
Late Nineteenth

This chapter examines the ways in which Russian and American businesses represented the histories of slavery, serfdom, and emancipation in late nineteenth-century advertisements. Images of African Americans and peasants appeared in posters, trade cards, and ephemera. A comparative analysis of these depictions illuminates businesses’ distinct marketing strategies and efforts to target specific consumer groups through portrayals of historically subjugated populations.

scholarly journals pre-eighteenth-century traditions of revivalism: damascus in the thirteenth century

2005 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
konrad hirschler
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Social History ◽  
Thirteenth Century ◽  
History Of Ideas ◽  
Contemporary Society ◽  
Current State ◽  
History Of ◽  
State Of Affairs ◽  
Large Sections

this article examines whether it is possible to trace eighteenth- and nineteenth-century revivalist thought to earlier ‘medieval’ examples. the discussion is centred on the issue of ijtiha¯d/taqli¯d, which featured prominently in revivalist thought. taking the example of scholars in thirteenth-century damascus, it firstly compares the respective readings of ijtiha¯d/taqli¯d, by focusing on one individual, abu¯ sha¯ma (d. 1267). it secondly asks whether a scholar like abu¯ sha¯ma, who had adopted a reading similar to later revivalists, also took a critical and oppositional stand against large sections of his contemporary society, i.e. a revivalist posture. it is this article's main contention that the example of abu¯ sha¯ma shows the need to study in more detail possible revivalist traditions prior to the ‘grand’ movements. the combination of the history of ideas and social history might allow a deeper understanding of how and in what contexts calls for reform and opposition to the current state of affairs were expressed.

Kilwa Dynastic Historiography: A Critical Study

1979 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 177-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elias Saad
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Thirteenth Century ◽  
Alternative Explanation ◽  
Tenth Century ◽  
Critical Study ◽  
Arabic Version ◽  
Portuguese Version ◽  
Recent Debate ◽  
Dynastic Politics

One of the unresolved problems in African historiography concerns the Arabic and Portuguese versions of the so-called Kilwa Chronicle. Scholars who have used these sixteenth-century sources have tended to assume that the Portuguese version, which is essentially a list of the kings of Kilwa up to around 1500, is a transcription of the Arabic version known under the title of Kitab al-Sulwa. In the recent debate between Freeman-Grenville and Chittick, this assumption has created serious difficulties because the Portuguese account mentions kings who are omitted in the Kitab. Freeman-Grenville attempted to resolve the difficulty by hypothesizing that the work was defectively abridged in the extant nineteenth-century copy. Relying on the regnal durations in the Portuguese account, he computed the dynastic chronology of Kilwa backwards to the tenth century. Subsequently, Chittick's excavations did not show Kilwa important enough to have been the site of a kingdom prior to the thirteenth century. This became the basis for an alternative explanation which denied the existence of gaps or omissions in the Kitab. Chittick argued instead that the longer list of kings in the Portuguese account may have resulted from dovetailing two sources together and duplicating their information.The present paper calls on genealogical evidence overlooked by both scholars which demonstrates that the divergence between the two sources results from their varying perspectives on the dynastic politics and succession disputes. First, the Portuguese account, though occurring in João de Barros’ Da Asia written about 1552, may represent an impromptu composition given to the Portuguese during their occupation of Kilwa in 1505–12.

Academy Students in the Mid-Nineteenth Century: Social Geography, Demography, and the Culture of Academy Attendance

2001 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy Beadie
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
New York ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Civil War ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
American Revolution ◽  
New York State ◽  
Social Geography ◽  
York State

Academies and academy students increased substantially in number during the period from the American Revolution to the Civil War. Why? Who were these students and what did academy attendance mean to them? Theodore R. Sizer asked these questions in 1964, but his ability to answer them was limited by the absence of studies that focused on academy students. In this essay I reexamine Sizer's understanding of academies in light of evidence provided by subsequent studies of student populations. These studies include my own comparative analysis of data from nearly 500 Regents academies that operated in New York State between 1835 and 1890, as well as in-depth case studies of individual institutions by myself and others.

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