Al-Ghazālī's Unspeakable Doctrine of the Soul

Unveiling the Esoteric Psychology and Eschatology of the Iḥyāʾ
Erscheinungsjahr 2001
ISBN: 978-90-04-12083-9
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 104, 208 Seiten, Format (B × H): 168 mm x 248 mm, Gewicht: 535 g

Reihe: Brill's Studies in Intellectual History

This text marks a radical rethinking of the soul and the afterlife in the writings of al-Ghazali (d. 505/1111), particularly within his magnum opus, Reviving Religious Knowledge (Ihya’ulum al-din). Attending closely to variations of genre and discourse mode within his works, it attempts to resolve some of the major ambiguities that have vexed al-Ghazali’s readers for nearly nine hundred years.
Beginning with his theory of multi-level, multi-genre writing and working through his theological, philosophical, and mystical positions on the soul’s true nature, the study culminates in an exploration of al-Ghazali’s mystical “psycho-cosmology”, where some startling conclusions are drawn regarding his most intimate thoughts on the “secrets” of the soul and the Hereafter.
Meticulously researched and yet engagingly written, this study speaks to both the specialist and the amateur intellectual historian.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Gianotti, Timothy J

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Nicht-Westliche Philosophie Islamische & Arabische Philosophie
• Geisteswissenschaften Islam & Islamische Studien Islam: Philosophie & Wissenschaften

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgments

Introduction, Methodology and Overview

1. All Things to All People? Deciphering al-Ghazali’s Doctrine of Discourse
2. Al- Ghazali’s Dogmatic/Theological (kalami) Formulation of the Soul
3. Al- Ghazali’s Condemnation of the Philosophical Psychology and Eschatology in the Incoherence of the Philosophers (Tahafut al-falasifa)
4. The Heart (al-qalb) and al- Ghazali’s Mystical Discussions of the Soul
5. Through a Looking Glass: The Heart Reflected in al- Ghazali’s Mystical Cosmology
6. The Wayfarer’s Final Journey: al- Ghazali’s Esoteric Eschatology (conclusion)

Appendix: Translation and Commentary: The Epistle of Presence

Bibliography
Index of Topics, Terms, and Proper Names

Über Autor(innen)

Timothy J. Gianotti, Ph.D. (1998) in Medieval Islamic Philosophy and Theology, University of Toronto, is an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Penn State University, where he teaches a variety of courses in Islamic Intellectual History, Mysticism, and Comparative Religion. His primary research interests involve classical Islamic understandings of psychology, epistemology, and eschatology.