MEET YOUR INSTRUCTOR

Dr. Ahmed Abdel Meguid
Department of Religion, Syracuse University

COURSE OVERVIEW

Why is it important to study Islamic philosophy and to actually reconstruct Islamic philosophy, especially for the purpose of engaging productively with Western humanities and Western theories of knowledge?

In this regard, the term Western is used here in a very loose sense because Islamic philosophy is in one way or another a part of the Western tradition and it constituted a big part of it. Philosophy is the rational concern with all the rational interest and investigation of fundamental questions concerning human practice and knowledge.

Dr. Meguid discusses and focuses on bringing to light what lurked in the darkness or was hidden in the concerns that led certain philosophers to provide certain answers or give particular definitions or ideas about the fundamental concepts of philosophy. This is how Dr. Meguid approaches Islamic philosophy while still being very loyal to the text and the philosophical treatise produced by Muslim philosophical theologians also known as Mutakallimun or as Mystical Philosophers.