Capitalism and Consumerism: A New Critique from the Perspective of Islamic Philosophy
About This Course
MEET YOUR INSTRUCTOR
Dr. Ahmed Abdel Meguid
Department of Religion, Syracuse University
COURSE OVERVIEW
From its emergence in the late 18th century through the present, capitalism has evolved into a mode of being and weltanschauung in its own right. The metamorphosis of industrial capitalism into corporate capitalism and the post-WWII emergence of financial markets that was in turn associated with new forms of commodification and irrational patterns of consumerism calls for new revisions of modern and post-modern critiques of capitalism alike.
But what could Islamic philosophy contribute in this regard? There is increasingly growing literature on Islamic finance and economics. However, little or no effort has been made to bring the fundamental theses of Islamic philosophy in epistemology, ethics, philosophical anthropology and aesthetics to critically bear on how capitalism affects our moral, intellectual and even aesthetic choices.
This course explores these questions laying special emphasis on how Islamic philosophy can offer new ways of reconstructing our social, familial and individual choices against the many impasses corporate capitalism forced upon us.
Curriculum
Unit 1 – The Definition of Capitalism
The Definition of Capitalism 00:15:34
Unit 2 – Adam Smith, Cost Oriented Economics and 18th Century Problems of Philosophy
Unit 3 – Life Philosophy, Existentialism and the Metamorphosis of Capitalistic Thinking
Unit 4 – Post-Modernism and the Global Claims of Capitalism and Its Values
Unit 5 – Alienation and Its Metamorphosis: From Marx to the Post-Modern Condition
Unit 6 – Capitalism, Reification, Commodification and Moral Relativism: The Concomitants of Corporate Capitalism
Unit 7 – Islam, Protestantism and Capitalism: General Remarks (Coming soon!)
Unit 8 – Islam and the Problems of Alienation
Unit 9 – The Commodification of Islam and Muslim Societies
Unit 10 – Iḥsān as a State of Consciousness and the Problems of Capitalism (Part 1)
Unit 11 – Iḥsān as a State of Consciousness and the Problems of Capitalism (Part 2)
Your Instructors
