Description: Ibn Taymiyya's Theological Ethics by Sophia Vasalou This book investigates Ibn Taymiyyas approach to some of the core ethical and theological questions of the classical period of Islam and, in doing so, sheds new light on his intellectual identity. FORMAT Hardcover LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Publisher Description Icon of modern-day fundamentalist movements, firebrand religious purist, tireless polemicist against the intellectual schools of his time-the Ibn Taymiyya we know is a thinker we often associate with hard attitudes and dogmatic stances. Yet there is another Ibn Taymiyya that stands out from the pages of his work, the thinker who fashions himself as a master of the via media and as a defender of the harmony between human reason and the religious faith. The aim ofthis book is to shed fresh light on Ibn Taymiyyas intellectual identity by a close investigation of his ethical thought. Earlier Muslim thinkers debating ethical value had been exercised by a number ofcore questions. What makes actions right or wrong? How do human beings know it? And what is Gods relationship to the evaluative standards discerned by the human mind? An investigation of Ibn Taymiyyas engagement with such questions has much to teach us about his intellectual program and particularly about the role of reason and the linchpin concept of human nature (fitra) within this program. It also has much to teach us about Ibn Taymiyyas relationship to the intellectual landscape of histime, bringing us up against a rich tapestry of ethical discussions unfolding within theology, philosophy and legal theory in the classical period. At the same time, a close reading of Ibn Taymiyyasethics invites us to confront not only the content of his thought but its form, and more particularly those features of his writing that fracture our efforts to unify his thought. Author Biography Sophia Vasalou is currently a Library of Arabic Literature Fellow at NYU Abu Dhabi and an Honorary Research Associate at Oxford Brookes University, and will be a Senior Lecturer and Birmingham Fellow in Philosophical Theology at the Department of Theology and Religion at the University of Birmingham as of 2016. Her books include Moral Agents and their Deserts, which won the Albert Hourani Book Award in 2009. Table of Contents AcknowledgementsIntroduction1 Ethical value between deontology and consequentialism2 Ethical knowledge between human self-guidance and the revealed Law3 Ibn Taymiyyas ethics and its Asharite antecedents4 The aims of the Law and the morality of God5 Broader perspectives on Ibn Taymiyyas ethical rationalism6 Return to the presentNotesBibliographyIndex Review "Ibn Taymiyya is often misunderstood as a simplistic textualist. Sophia Vasalous masterly book shows that his thought has several surprises in store. Her highly analytical engagement helps us to get at the bottom of his kind of rationalism; a rationalism that has influenced almost all branches of modern and contemporary thought in Islam." --Frank Griffel, author of Al-Ghazalis Philosophical Theology"Vasalous book grapples seriously, even intimately, with the ethical questions that animated Ibn Taymiyya, the larger-than-life intellectual figure who is often - and wrongly, as Vasalou shows - portrayed as a sui generis thinker. Vasalou traces the genealogies of Ibn Taymiyyas ethics in Sunni thought and provides thoughtful analyses of his creative departures from it. This is a major contribution to the study of Islamic ethics that significantly deepens ourunderstanding of its historical genesis." --Ahmed El Shamsy, author of The Canonization of Islamic Law: A Social and Intellectual History"This is the fullest and most philosophically sophisticated discussion to date of Ibn Taymiyyas utilitarian ethics and vision of human nature (fitra). Taking Ibn Taymiyyas prima facie alignment with the ethical objectivism characteristic of Mutazilism as her starting point, Vasalou masterfully shows that he in fact owes far more to medieval Asharism than he acknowledges." --Jon Hoover, author of Ibn Taymiyyas Theodicy of Perpetual Optimism Promotional Investigates Ibn Taymiyyas approach to some of the core ethical and theological questions of the classical period of Islam and, in doing so, sheds new light on his intellectual identity. Long Description Icon of modern-day fundamentalist movements, firebrand religious purist, tireless polemicist against the intellectual schools of his time-the Ibn Taymiyya we know is a thinker we often associate with hard attitudes and dogmatic stances. Yet there is another Ibn Taymiyya that stands out from the pages of his work, the thinker who fashions himself as a master of the via media and as a defender of the harmony between human reason and the religious faith. The aim ofthis book is to shed fresh light on Ibn Taymiyyas intellectual identity by a close investigation of his ethical thought. Earlier Muslim thinkers debating ethical value had been exercised by a number ofcore questions. What makes actions right or wrong? How do human beings know it? And what is Gods relationship to the evaluative standards discerned by the human mind? An investigation of Ibn Taymiyyas engagement with such questions has much to teach us about his intellectual program and particularly about the role of reason and the linchpin concept of human nature (fitra) within this program. It also has much to teach us about Ibn Taymiyyas relationship to the intellectual landscape of histime, bringing us up against a rich tapestry of ethical discussions unfolding within theology, philosophy and legal theory in the classical period. At the same time, a close reading of Ibn Taymiyyasethics invites us to confront not only the content of his thought but its form, and more particularly those features of his writing that fracture our efforts to unify his thought. Review Text "Ibn Taymiyya is often misunderstood as a simplistic textualist. Sophia Vasalous masterly book shows that his thought has several surprises in store. Her highly analytical engagement helps us to get at the bottom of his kind of rationalism; a rationalism that has influenced almost all branches of modern and contemporary thought in Islam." --Frank Griffel, author of Al-Ghazalis Philosophical Theology"Vasalous book grapples seriously, even intimately, with the ethical questions that animated Ibn Taymiyya, the larger-than-life intellectual figure who is often - and wrongly, as Vasalou shows - portrayed as a sui generis thinker. Vasalou traces the genealogies of Ibn Taymiyyas ethics in Sunni thought and provides thoughtful analyses of his creative departures from it. This is a major contribution to the study of Islamic ethics that significantly deepens ourunderstanding of its historical genesis." --Ahmed El Shamsy, author of The Canonization of Islamic Law: A Social and Intellectual History"This is the fullest and most philosophically sophisticated discussion to date of Ibn Taymiyyas utilitarian ethics and vision of human nature (fitra). Taking Ibn Taymiyyas prima facie alignment with the ethical objectivism characteristic of Mutazilism as her starting point, Vasalou masterfully shows that he in fact owes far more to medieval Asharism than he acknowledges." --Jon Hoover, author of Ibn Taymiyyas Theodicy of Perpetual Optimism Review Quote "Ibn Taymiyya is often misunderstood as a simplistic textualist. Sophia Vasalous masterly book shows that his thought has several surprises in store. Her highly analytical engagement helps us to get at the bottom of his kind of rationalism; a rationalism that has influenced almost all branches of modern and contemporary thought in Islam." --Frank Griffel, author of Al-Ghazalis Philosophical Theology "Vasalous book grapples seriously, even intimately, with the ethical questions that animated Ibn Taymiyya, the larger-than-life intellectual figure who is often - and wrongly, as Vasalou shows - portrayed as a sui generis thinker. Vasalou traces the genealogies of Ibn Taymiyyas ethics in Sunni thought and provides thoughtful analyses of his creative departures from it. This is a major contribution to the study of Islamic ethics that significantly deepens our understanding of its historical genesis." --Ahmed El Shamsy, author of The Canonization of Islamic Law: A Social and Intellectual History "This is the fullest and most philosophically sophisticated discussion to date of Ibn Taymiyyas utilitarian ethics and vision of human nature (fitra). Taking Ibn Taymiyyas prima facie alignment with the ethical objectivism characteristic of Mutazilism as her starting point, Vasalou masterfully shows that he in fact owes far more to medieval Asharism than he acknowledges." --Jon Hoover, author of Ibn Taymiyyas Theodicy of Perpetual Optimism Feature Should be displayed at:Conference of the British Association of Islamic Studies Annual meeting of the Middle East Studies AssociationAnnaul meeting of the American Academy of ReligionSelling point: A new study of Ibn Taymiyyas ethical thought that synthesizes a number of important sourcesSelling point: Approaches the sources with analytical rigor while also situating Ibn Taymiyyas ethical thought in its broader intellectual contextSelling point: Provides a fresh window into Islamic ethical thought in the classical period, detailing intellectual developments in Islamic theology, philosophy and legal theory Details ISBN019939783X Author Sophia Vasalou Short Title IBN TAYMIYYAS THEOLOGICAL ETHI Language English ISBN-10 019939783X ISBN-13 9780199397839 Media Book Format Hardcover Year 2015 Pages 360 Position Library of Arabic Literature Fellow Imprint Oxford University Press Inc Place of Publication New York Country of Publication United States Affiliation Library of Arabic Literature Fellow, NYU Abu Dhabi Publication Date 2015-12-10 UK Release Date 2015-12-10 AU Release Date 2015-12-10 NZ Release Date 2015-12-10 US Release Date 2015-12-10 Publisher Oxford University Press Inc DEWEY 297.5 Audience Tertiary & Higher Education We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. 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Book Title: Ibn Taymiyya's Theological Ethics
Item Height: 244mm
Item Width: 162mm
Author: Sophia Vasalou
Format: Hardcover
Language: English
Topic: Nature, Islam, Popular Philosophy, Religious History
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc
Publication Year: 2015
Item Weight: 598g
Number of Pages: 360 Pages
