Review of Sculpting the Self: Islam Selfhood, and Human Flourishing (by Mohammad Azadpur), "Comparative Philosophy." (original) (raw)
Related papers
Book Review: SCULPTING THE SELF: ISLAM, SELFHOOD AND HUMAN FLOURISHING (BY MUHAMMAD FARUQUE)
Comparative Philosophy, 2023
In the perusal of contemporary philosophical literature, one rarely comes upon a work that engages in an analytic penetration of a philosophical topic with such erudition and cosmopolitanism. Faruque's study draws on primary philosophical work from English, German, French, ancient Greek, Persian, Arabic, Urdu sources and then supplements them with the latest and most cutting-edge scientific and historical studies; this is all done in an elegant and inclusive manner. Indeed, this study is not only a comprehensive philosophical treatment of selfhood, but it is also a blueprint for an exemplary philosophical analysis which is not cramped by scholarly parochialism endemic to the run-of-the-mill academic essays. After arguing why the self is not a modern invention, Faruque develops his theory of the "spectrum model" by a complex philosophico-philological argument, taking full account of the various terminologies such as nafs, rūḥ, dhāt, khud, etc., which are used to express the self in Islamic thought. In the process, he also notes astutely how the term has been misconstrued in various modern disciplines such as anthropology, religious studies, and neuroscience.
Explaining theories and conceptions of selfhood and subjectivity across Western, Islamic and Indian sources is no easy task; it is even more difficult to do so clearly, cogently and in a manner comprehensible to non-experts. It is a remarkable feat to engage with proficiency in traditions and disciplines as disparate as, inter alia, seventeenth-twentieth-century Islamic philosophies and their classical and post-classical predecessors, Kantian philosophy, Indian metaphysics, contemporary analytic philosophy, neuroscience, cognitive science, social anthropology, Neoplatonic and Aristotelian thought, and an array of Francophone, Anglophone and German philosophical traditions; tying it all together to propose a model of the self that challenges dominant Western models and aims to lay bare their deficiencies is even more impressive. Yet this is what Muhammad Faruque does in Sculpting the Self. The book stems from his doctoral dissertation at Berkeley but is clearly modified significantly for a larger audience of academics who are experts in studies of selfhood and subjectivityfrom analytic philosophers to social anthropologists and neuroscientistsbut not specialists in the intricate discourses of Mullā Ṣ adrā (d. circa 1635/1640), Shāh Walī Allāh (d. 1762), Sir Muḥ ammad Iqbal (d. 1938) and the Islamic philosophies, theologies and spiritualities that preceded them in Arabic, Persian and Urdu. And herein lies the primary contribution of Faruque's book: he intelligently and proficiently brings non-Western philosophies into conversation with Western philosophical, sociological and neuroscientific questions of selfhood and subjectivity. In this way, he is attempting to expand the parochial sources of the Western academic discussion on these topics and in particular to challenge their physicalist presuppositions. While this book is written by a scholar of Islam who takes seriously the metaphysical, anthropological and ontological claims regarding being, self and human flourishing within the Islamic traditions, Faruque explains and constructs his theory in conversation with a variety of disciplines; the potential audience is thus far broader than scholars of the Islamic intellectual traditions. It is a specimen of cross-cultural (Faruque's term) and interreligious (my term) philosophy. After a short introduction, the book is divided into two parts of three chapters each, though the sixth chapter, in which he succinctly recapitulates his main points, adds a few finishing touches, and defends his multidimensional model of the self against possible critics, is a mere ten pages long. Faruque is not merely offering a critical exegesis of historical materials from the Islamic traditions or examining post-classical Islamic intellectual history. Rather, he is drawing from those sources and engaging in interdisciplinary, cross-cultural dialogue to advance and develop 'a new, multidimensional model of the self that underscores self-knowledge, self-cultivation, and human flourishing' (2) and contributes to the conversations happening in Western philosophy, sociology, cognitive science, neuroscience, and more. The book is admittedly 'an exercise in cross-cultural philosophy and philosophy of religion' (9); Faruque is careful never to stray into the realm of theology or suggest that he is doing theology. Yet, to someone with expertise in the field of Islamic and Christian intellectual and spiritual traditions such as myself (from theology to philosophy and mysticism), it is ISLAM AND CHRISTIAN-MUSLIM RELATIONS
Discovering the Self in Islam: Self-Striving, Self-Regard, and Self-Neglect
This study explored some self domains and reviewed them through Islamic perspective, more particularly self-knowledge and faith. It provided an extensive literature on particular concepts of self-striving, self-regard, and self-neglect. To briefly point out, the self has many origins, however deeply noted as such heart, spirit, and psyche in Islam. From these, this study looked at the two known self domains: self-striving, and self-regard. Apart from these concepts, researchers differently chose self-neglect. With this, the study indicated the self-neglect is an important concept as defensive behavior and these all self concepts might be useful as a central of human nature for future experimental development.