Capitalism and Consumerism: A New Critique from the Perspective of Islamic Philosophy

AbdelMeguid
Dr. Ahmed Abdel Meguid
Last Update June 24, 2022
0 already enrolled

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

11 Lessons2h 43m

Unit 1 – The Definition of Capitalism

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

Dr. Ahmed Abdel Meguid

0/5
7 Courses
0 Reviews
0 Students
Dr. Ahmed Abdel Meguid has been an Assistant Professor of Religion at Syracuse University since 2011. He received his Ph.D. from the Department of Philosophy at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, in the same year. His areas of specialization include the history of philosophy and philosophy of religion with a special focus on late 18th, 19th and early 20th-century German philosophy, as well as Islamic philosophy, theology, and mysticism. He has significantly contributed to the Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought and has also contributed to other books and articles on Islamic philosophy and political realism. He has received multiple awards and honours including the Fund for Innovative Teaching Award from Emory University in 2011.
See more
Free
Level
Intermediate
Duration 2.7 hours
Lectures
11 lectures
Language
English