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Home , Abdolkarim Soroush, Islamic studies, Kalam, Muqaddimah

ISLA 380 Islamic and Fall 2016 Mondays and Wednesdays, 4:05PM-5:25PM, in Leacock 116

Instructor: Ms. Pauline A. Froissart Institute of Morrice Hall 026 e-mail: [email protected]

TA : Mr. Fariduddin Attar e-mail : [email protected]

Office hours: By appointment

ISLA 380 is an introduction to the most important philosophers and theologians in Islamic intellectual , with a focus on the concepts they articulated and the movements they engendered. Although many of the philosophical and theological problems we examine first arose a thousand years ago, debates over how to solve them still resonate throughout the Islamic world. The classes will alternate between those devoted to lecturing and to answering questions, and those devoted to student-led debates over particular philosophical and theological problems. All the readings are in English.

Requirements Students will be required to: a) Lead one side of one debate. In each debate, two student debaters will give twenty-minute presentations of their opposing positions, and then respond to questions and criticisms from the rest of the class. There are only ten debates. If more than twenty students end up enrolling in the class, the remaining students will each choose a debate and submit a 3000-word (+/- 100 words) essay in which they lay out the arguments in favor of one side of that debate, and against the other side. This essay will be due at the beginning of the class in which that debate is held. b) Complete three in-class exams. For each in-class exam, students will choose one of three essay questions to answer. The exams are closed-book, and will be written by hand on an exam booklet. The October 3 exam will cover topics and materials listed in the syllabus between September 7 and September 28, inclusive; the November 2 exam will cover topics and materials listed in the syllabus between October 5 and October 31, inclusive; and the December 5 exam will cover topics and materials listed in the syllabus between November 7 and November 30, inclusive. There will be no Final Exam. c) Come to class i) having read the assigned readings / listened to the assigned podcasts, and ii) prepared to participate in the discussions, especially those during the debates. The readings average about 100 pages per class (lecture or debate).

Course grades will be determined as follows: a) debate: 20% b) exam #1: 20% c) exam #2: 20% d) exam #3: 20% e) class participation: 20%

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Textbooks

The following textbook is available for purchase at the Paragraphe Bookstore.

Peter Adamson and Richard Taylor, eds, The Cambridge Companion to Philosophy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005)

Copies of the remaining textbooks are on reserve at the Islamic Studies Library.

B. Abrahamov, Islamic Theology: Traditionalism and (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1998) P. Adamson, Philosophy in the Islamic World (Oxford: , 2015) J. Barnes, Aristotle: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000) S. van den Bergh, trans., ' Tahafut al-tahafut (The Incoherence of the Incoherence) (: E.J.W. Gibb Memorial Trust, 1978) M. Crubellier and P. Pellegrin, Aristote. Le philosophe et les savoirs (Paris : Éds du Seuil, 2002) L. Gardet and G. C. Anawati. Introduction à la théologie musulmane; essai de théologie comparée (Paris : Vrin, 1970) L. Gauthier. Hayy ben Yaqdhân, roman philosophique d'Ibn Thofaïl (Frankfurt am Main: Institute for the History of Arabic-Islamic Science at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, 1999) M. Geoffroy, Discours décisif (Paris : Flammarion, 1996) L. E. Goodman, Ibn Tufayl’s Hayy Ibn Yaqzān. A Philosophical Tale (Los Angeles: Gee Tee Bee, 2003) A. Hourani, Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age, 1798-1939 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983) G.F. Hourani, trans., Averroes on the Harmony of and Philosophy (London: E.J.W. Gibb Memorial Trust, 1961) R.C. Martin and M.R. Woodward, Defenders of Reason in : Muʿtazilism from Medieval School to Modern Symbol (Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 1997) F. Rahman, : Transformation of an Intellectual Tradition (Chicago: Press, 1984) S. Schmidtke, The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Theology (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014) A. Wadud, Qur’an and Woman: Rereading the Sacred Text from a Woman's Perspective (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999) W. M. Watt, and Theology: An Extended Survey (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1985) H. A. Wolfson, The Philosophy of the (Cambridge. MA: Press, 1976)

In addition, PDFs of the readings other than Adamson and Taylor are available for download from the MyCourses webpage.

McGill University values academic integrity. Therefore, all students must understand the meaning and consequences of cheating, plagiarism and other academic offences under the Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures (see www.mcgill.ca/students/srr/honest/ for more ). L'université McGill attache une haute importance à l’honnêteté académique. Il incombe par conséquent à tous les étudiants de comprendre ce que l'on entend par tricherie, plagiat et autres infractions académiques, ainsi que les conséquences que peuvent avoir de telles actions, selon le Code de conduite de l'étudiant et des procédures disciplinaires (pour de plus amples renseignements, veuillez consulter le site www.mcgill.ca/students/srr/honest/). In accord with McGill University’s Charter of Students’ Rights, students in this course have the right to submit in English or in French any written work that is to be graded. Conformément à la Charte des droits de l’étudiant de l’Université McGill, chaque étudiant a le droit de soumettre en français ou en anglais tout travail écrit devant être noté (sauf dans le cas des cours dont l’un des objets est la maîtrise d’une langue).

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Schedule

Fri Sep 2 (Lecture): Logistics; introduction

Mon Sep 5: NO CLASS (Labor Day)

Wed Sep 7 (Lecture): Early Sectarianism; Muʿtazilism - Watt, 1-63 - Wolfson, 1-58

Mon Sep 12 (Debate): “If creates our actions, isn’t He unjust to punish us for them?” - Wolfson, 601-624; 644-719 - Richard M. Frank, Two Islamic Views of [Richard M. Frank, Texts and Studies on the Development and History of Kalām. Vol. III. Classical Islamic Theology: The Ashʿarites (Aldershot, Hampshire / Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2008), 37-49]

Wed Sep 14 (Lecture): The Miḥna; Ashʿarī and Ashʿarism - Watt, 64-68 and 75-84 - Podcast #121: “This is a Test: the Mu'tazilites”, available on http://historyofphilosophy.net/mutazilites - Podcast #137: “God Willing: the Ash'arites”, available on http://historyofphilosophy.net/asharism

Mon Sep 19 (Debate): “Is the Qurʾān created or uncreated?” - Wolfson, 235-303

Wed Sep 21(Lecture): Greek into Arabic; Kindī; and - Adamson and Taylor, 10-51 - Ibn Khaldūn [d. 1406], Prolegomenon [F. Rosenthal, trans., Ibn Khaldūn: An Introduction to History, The (New York: The Bollingen Foundation, 1964), 371-375, 382-386, 388-390] - Kindī [d. 865], On First Philosophy [A.L. Ivry, trans., Al-Kindi’s (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1974), 55-95] - Podcast # 122: “Founded in Translation: From Greek to Syriac and Arabic”, available on http://historyofphilosophy.net/translation-movement - Podcast # 123: “Philosopher of the : al-Kindī”, available on http://historyofphilosophy.net/al-kindi

Mon Sep 26 (Debate): “Do we need a divine text in order to know things with , or can we use logic instead?” - Kindī [d. 865], Sketch of Aristotle’s Organon [N. Rescher, trans., “Al-Kindi’s sketch of Aristotle’s Organon”, The New 37 (Baltimore: The American Catholic Philosophical Association, 1963), 44-58] - The Discussion between Abū Bishr Mattā and Abū Saʿīd al-Sīrāfī on the Merits of Logic and Grammar [D. Margoliouth, trans., “The discussion between Abū Bishr Mattā and Abū Saʿīd al-Sirāfī on the merits of logic and grammar”, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland New Series 37 (London: The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, 1905), 79-91, 110-129] - Abrahamov, 1-64 - Podcast # 128: “Aristotelian Society: the Baghdad School”, available on http://historyofphilosophy.net/baghdad-school

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Wed Sep 28 (Lecture): Fārābī; and - Adamson and Taylor, 52-71 - Fārābī [d. 950], The Enumeration of the Sciences [R. Lerner and M. , eds and trans, Medieval Political Philosophy: A Sourcebook (New York: The Free Press, 1963), 22-30] - Fārābī [d. 950], The Attainment of Happiness [M. Mahdi, trans., Alfarabi’s Philosophy of Plato and Aristotle (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1969), 13-50] - Podcast # 129: “The Second Master: al-Fārābī”, available on http://historyofphilosophy.net/al-farabi

Mon Oct 3: In-class exam #1

Wed Oct 5 (Debate): “Do prophets or philosophers make better lawgivers?” - Adamson and Taylor, 266-286 - Ashʿarī [d. ca. 936], Highlights of the Polemic against Deviators and Innovators [R. J. McCarthy, trans., The Theology of al-Ashʿarī (Beirut: Imprimerie Catholique, 1953), 112- 116] - [d. 1037], On the Divisions of the Rational Sciences [R. Lerner and M. Mahdi, eds and trans, Medieval Political Philosophy: A Sourcebook (New York: The Free Press, 1963), 95-97] - Avicenna [d. 1037], Healing: Metaphysics X [R. Lerner and M. Mahdi, eds and trans, Medieval Political Philosophy: A Sourcebook (New York: The Free Press, 1963), 98-111] - Avicenna [d. 1037], On the Proof of Prophecies [R. Lerner and M. Mahdi, eds and trans, Medieval Political Philosophy: A Sourcebook (New York: The Free Press, 1963), 112-121] - Nāṣir Khusraw [d. ca. 1088], and Liberation [F. Hunzai, trans., Knowledge and Liberation: A Treatise on Philosophical Theology (London: I.B. Tauris, 1998), 101-114] - Podcast # 130: “State of Mind: al-Fārābī on Religion and Politics”, available on http://historyofphilosophy.net/al-farabi-political

Mon Oct 10: NO CLASS (Thanksgiving)

Wed Oct 12 (Lecture): Avicenna (Ibn Sīnā); metaphysics and psychology - Adamson and Taylor, 92-136 - Avicenna [d. 1037], The Autobiography [D. Gutas, trans., Avicenna and the Aristotelian Tradition (New York: E.J. Brill, 1988), 22-30] - Avicenna [d. 1037], On Necessary and Possible [G. Hourani, “Ibn Sina on necessary and possible existence”, Philosophical Forum 6 (Boston: Boston University Department of Philosophy, 1974), 74-86]

Mon Oct 17 (Debate): “After we die, do our souls alone survive, or will our bodies be resurrected as well?” - Adamson and Taylor, 308-326 - Avicenna [d. 1037], Psychology [F. Rahman, trans., Avicenna’s Psychology: An English Translation of Kitāb al-najāt, Book II, Chapter VI, with Historico-Philosophical Notes and textual Improvements on the Edition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1952), 56-64] - Ghazālī [d. 1111]/Averroes [d. 1198], Incoherence, 333-363

Wed Oct 19 (Lecture): Ghazālī; reactions to falsafa - Adamson and Taylor, 137-154; 247-265 - Ghazālī [d. 1111], Deliverance from Error [W.M. Watt, trans., The Faith and Practice of al- Ghazālī (Chicago: Kazi Publications, 1982), 19-85]

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- Ibn Taymiyya [d. 1328], Against the Logicians [W.B. Hallaq, trans., Ibn Taymiyya: Against the Logicians (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993), 3-30]

Mon Oct 24 (Debate): “Are God’s hands tied by the laws of nature, or can He override nature in order to create miracles?” - Wolfson, 518-600 - Ghazālī [d. 1111]/Averroes [d. 1198], Incoherence, 311-333

Wed Oct 26 (Lecture): Philosophy in Andalusia; Ibn Ṭufayl and Averroes (Ibn Rushd) - Adamson and Taylor, 155-200 - Averroes [d. 1198], Harmony, 44-81 / Discours décisif, 103-171 - Ibn Ṭufayl, Ḥayy ibn Yaqżān, 95-166 (Goodman) / 1-114 (Gauthier)

Mon Oct 31 (Debate): “Is God so sublime that He only knows things in a general way, or can He know particular things just as we do?” - Ghazālī [d. 1111]/Averroes [d. 1198], Incoherence, 255-285

Wed Nov 2: In-class exam #2

Mon Nov 7 (Lecture): Post-classical Sunni and Shiʿite muḥaqqiqūn and mutakallimūn

- (Abū al-Muʿīn) Nasafī [d. 1114], An Ocean of Discourse about Theology [A. Jeffery, trans., A reader on Islam: Passages from Standard Arabic Writings Illustrative of the Beliefs and Practices of (’s-Gravenhage: Mouton & Co., 1962), 375-404] - Ṭūsī [d. 1274], Treatise on the Proof of a Necessary [P. Morewedge, trans., The Metaphysics of Ṭūsī (New York: The Society for the Study of Islamic Philosophy and Science, 1992), 1-14] - Taftāzānī [d. 1389], Commentary on the Nasafite Creed (i.e., the Creed of [Abū Ḥafṣ] Nasafī [d. 1142]) [E.E. Elder, trans., A Commentary on the Creed of Islam: Sa‘d al-Dīn al-Taftāzānī on the Creed of Najm al-Dīn al-Nasafī (New York: Columbia University Press, 1950), 3-87] - Shah Walī Allāh of Delhi [d. 1762], The Conclusive Argument from God [M.K. Hermansen, The Conclusive Argument from God: Shāh Walī Allāh of Delhi’s Ḥujjat Allāh al-Bāligha (New York, E.J. Brill, 1996), 33-36, 173-178, 190-202]

Wed Nov 9 (Debate): “Was the world created out of nothing or is it eternal, just as God is?” - Ghazālī [d. 1111]/Averroes [d. 1198], Incoherence, 1-58, 156-170

Mon Nov 14 (Lecture): ; the Akbarian Turn - Adamson and Taylor, 201-246 and 405-425 - Shahrazūrī [d. after 1288], “Introduction” to his Commentary on Suhrawardī's [d. 1191] Philosophy of Illumination [J. Walbridge and H. Ziai, trans., Suhrawardī: The Philosophy of Illumination (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 1999), xxxviii-xliii] - Mullā Ṣadrā [d. 1641], Book of Prehensions [P. Morewedge, trans., The Metaphysics of Mulla Sadrā (New York: The Society for the Study of Islamic Philosophy and Science, 1992), 55- 83] - Sabzavārī [d. 1878], Metaphysics [M. Mohaghegh and T. Izutsu, trans, The Metaphysics of Sabzavārī (Delmar, NY: Caravan Books, 1977), 31-47]

Wed Nov 16 (Lecture): Early - Hourani, 1-160

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Mon Nov 21 (Debate): “Does presuppose Westernization?” - Martin and Woodward, 128-138 - Afghānī [d. 1897], The Benefits of Philosophy [N. Keddie and H. Algar, trans, An Islamic Response to Imperialism (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983), 109-122] - ʿAbduh [d. 1905], Essay on Divine Unity [I. Musaʿad and K. Cragg, trans, The Theology of Unity by Muhammad ʿAbduh, (London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd, 1966), 27-56, 123-160] - Iqbal [d. 1938], Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam [M.S. Sheikh, ed., The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam by Allama (Lahore, : Institute of Islamic , 1986), 23-49]

Wed Nov 23 (Lecture): Late Modernism - Rahman, 1-162 - Martin and Woodward, 199-203

Mon Nov 28 (Debate): “How useful is the Islamic philosophical and theological tradition to modern Muslims?” - Martin and Woodward, 158-179 - Nasution, The Muʿtazila and Rational Philosophy [Martin and Woodward, 180-196] - Soroush, The Three [M. Sadri and A. Sadri, trans and eds, Reason, Freedom, and in Islam: Essential Writings of (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), 156-170]

Wed Nov 30 (Lecture): Postmodernism and Postcoloniality - Martin and Woodward, 204-219 - Arkoun, Islam, Europe, the West: Meanings-at-stake and -to-Power [J. Cooper et al., eds, Islam and Modernity: Muslim Intellectuals Respond (London: I.B.Tauris, 2000), 172-189] - Abu Zaid, Divine Attributes in the Qur’an: Some Poetic Aspects [J. Cooper et al., eds, Islam and Modernity: Muslim Intellectuals Respond (London: I.B.Tauris, 2000), 190-211] - Soroush, The and Devolution of Religious Knowledge [C. Kurzman, ed., Liberal Islam: A Sourcebook (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), 244-251] - Wadud, ix-xxvi and 1-108

Mon Dec 5: In-class exam #3

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