Sculpting the self : Islam, selfhood, and human flourishing / Muhammad U. Faruque.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Faruque, Muhammad U., author.

Contributor:

Michigan Publishing (University of Michigan), publisher.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Self--Religious aspects--Islam.

Self.

Self (Philosophy).

Islam--Philosophy.

Islam.

Islam--Psychology.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xv, 292 pages) : illustrations

Place of Publication:

Ann Arbor, Michigan : University of Michigan Press, 2021.

System Details:

text file

Summary:

Sculpting the Self addresses "what it means to be human" in a secular, post-Enlightenment world by exploring notions of self and subjectivity in Islamic and non-Islamic philosophical and mystical thought. Alongside detailed analyses of three major Islamic thinkers (Mullā Ṣadrā, Shāh Walī Allāh, and Muhammad Iqbal), this study also situates their writings on selfhood within the wider constellation of related discussions in late modern and contemporary thought, engaging the seminal theoretical insights on the self by William James, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Michel Foucault. This allows the book to develop its inquiry within a spectrum theory of selfhood, incorporating bio-physiological, socio-cultural, and ethico-spiritual modes of discourse and meaning-construction. Weaving together insights from several disciplines such as religious studies, philosophy, anthropology, critical theory, and neuroscience, and arguing against views that narrowly restrict the self to a set of cognitive functions and abilities, this study proposes a multidimensional account of the self that offers new options for addressing central issues in the contemporary world, including spirituality, human flourishing, and meaning in life. This is the first book-length treatment of selfhood in Islamic thought that draws on a wealth of primary source texts in Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Greek, and others. Muhammad U. Faruque's interdisciplinary approach makes a significant contribution in the growing field of cross-cultural dialogue, as it opens up the way for engaging premodern and modern Islamic sources from a contemporary perspective by going beyond the exegesis of historical materials. He initiates a critical conversation between new insights into human nature as developed in neuroscience and modern philosophical literature and millennia-old Islamic perspectives on the self, consciousness, and human flourishing as developed in Islamic philosophical, mystical, and literary traditions.

Contents:

Part I

Chapter 1 The Problematic of the Self p. 9

Is the Self a Modern Invention? p. 9

The Opacity of the Self p. 19

Degrees and Dimensions of Selfhood p. 27

First-Person vs. Third-Person Perspective p. 28

Descriptive vs. Normative Approaches p. 33

A Multidimensional Model p. 44

Overcoming the Terminological Fray p. 49

Chapter 2 The View from and beyond the "I" p. 60

The Paradox of 'Self-Knowledge p. 61

Non-reflective Self-Knowledge p. 70

Self-Knowledge as Abiding Presence p. 78

The Varieties of Non-reflective Self-Knowledge p. 86

The Kantian Dilemma p. 93

Chapter 3 Self-Knowledge and the Levels of Consciousness p. 104

The Humean Challenge and the Referentiality of the "I" p. 104

The Onto-phenomenological Structure of Consciousness p. 111

What Is It Like to Be a Self? p. 121

Unity of Self and Consciousness p. 133

Part II

Chapter 4 Self, Body, and Consciousness p. 143

Consciousness in Neuroscience p. 143

Nearobiological Theories of Consciousness p. 153

The Center of the Self: Neurons or Consciousness? p. 159

The Nerve Impulse and the Structure of Consciousness p. 162

Graeco-Islamic-Indian Conversations p. 170

Deciphering the Self through the Subtle Bodies p. 179

Emotion and Subjectivity p. 186

Chapter 5 Sculpting the Self p. 197

Philosophy, Spirituality, and Self-Knowledge p. 197

Self-Cultivation and Human Flourishing p. 210

Self-Perfection and the Ideal Self p. 221

Meditation and Self-Transparency p. 233

Self-Transcendence and Transformation p. 239

Self, Freedom, Being-Toward-Beyond-Death p. 246

Chapter 6 Consummation: "I" or "I and I" p. 256.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 267-292) and indexes.

Description based on information from the publisher.

ISBN:

9780472129164

0472129163

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.