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Is “Islamic philosophy” a useful label?

Layla Haddad Fellow
· 2 replies
Religions comparedIslamic#history-of-philosophy#terminology
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Some colleagues prefer "Arabic philosophy". Others say "philosophy in the Islamic world". Each has problems.

"Islamic philosophy" suggests that it's all religious, or that all of it was done by Muslims. But Christians like Yahya ibn 'Adi and Jews like Maimonides wrote philosophy in Arabic, within the same debates.

"Arabic philosophy" excludes those who wrote in Persian, like Mulla Sadra in parts of his work, and many Ottoman authors who wrote in Turkish as well as Arabic.

"Philosophy in the Islamic world" is accurate and unbearably clumsy.

Which label do you use? Does the choice matter for how people approach the tradition?

2 answers

  1. Hamza Qureshi

    Fellow

    In Pakistan "Islamic philosophy" is what people search for, so I use it in public talks. In writing I'd use "philosophy in the Islamic world". Different audiences, different labels.

    Helpful · 3
  2. Aoife Brennan

    Contributor

    The same problem arises with "Christian philosophy". Nobody quite knows whether it means philosophy done by Christians or philosophy that's Christian in content. Maybe the labels only work if you explain them every time.

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