FU Course: Jewish and Muslim Parables and Philosophical Fictions
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Facilitator, Adnan Husain, Department of Zany Knowledge, Feldman University (FU)⌗
Time: Saturdays 8-9:30am⌗
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Course Description⌗
This course explores the intellectual history of Jews and Muslims and the intersections of their philosophical, theological, literary and religious cultures and traditions from late antiquity to modern times. In particular, the course is interested in philosophical fictions that stage inter-religious dialogues, thought experiments, creative imaginings and visions to explore fundamental questions about human experience, knowledge, the cosmos, salvation and earthly history, the relationships to animals and nature, and divine truth. It will involve close reading of such texts ranging from scripture/exegetical tracts to mystical treatises, polemical disputes, and philosophical dialogues, while appreciating the contexts and spaces of Jewish-Muslim thought in the learned circles of cities like Baghdad and Berlin, Cairo and Cordoba, Palermo and Paris, and of course Jerusalem. Seminar discussion in our collaborative study will be crucial and depend upon short writing assignments. There will also be the opportunity to explore a sustained problem or issue historically and philosophically in a final project.
Course Materials and Resources:⌗
The following books are available for purchase at the Queen’s University bookstore and/or through the Queen’s University Library:
Peter Adamson, Philosophy in the Islamic World, v. 3, A History of Philosophy without any Gaps (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016) Chapters of this work are available as audiobook episodes of History of Philosophy without Any Gaps Podcast, episodes 120-196.
Ibn Tufayl’s Hayy Ibn Yaqzan: A Philosophical Tale, tr. Lenn Evan Goodmann (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003)
Kafka, The Complete Stories, ed. Nahum N. Glatzer (NY: Schocken Books, 1971)
Syllabus and reading materials can be found in the #files Discord channel.
Course Timeline⌗
Note: subject to revision!
| Weeks | Lecture Topics | Readings |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 January 22 | Introduction, how to read a parable | Will be provided in class |
| Week 2 Jan 28 | Free Thinkers: Philosophy and Prophetic Religion Author: Al-Farabi |
Adamson, p. 3-76, 91-97, 113-139 Al Farabi, The Attainment of Happiness, Al-Farabi’s Philosophy of Plato and Aristotle, tr. Muhsin Mahdi (NY: MacMillan, 1962), p. 41-50 (section 4). |
| Week 3 Feb 5 07:00pm | Free Thinkers: Philosophy and Prophetic Religion Author: Ibn Sina |
Avicenna (Ibn Sina), On the Soul: The Floating Man, various excerpts (c. 1020-1037). Al-Samaw’al al-Maghribi, Silencing the Jews, ed. Tr. M. Perlmann, Proceedings of the American Academy for Jewish Research 32 (1964), p. 74-88. (autobiographical conversion narrative) Recommended: Full text of al-Maghribi’s Silencing the Jews Adnan A. Husain, Conversion to History: Negating Exile and Messianism in Samaw’al al-Maghribi’s Polemic against Judaism, Medieval Encounters 8/1 (2002), p. 3-34 Michael Marmura, Avicenna’s Flying Man in Context, The Monist 69/3 (July, 1986), p. 383-395 |
| Week 4 February 12 | Law and the problem of reason: Al-Ghazali’s Synthesis |
Adamson, p. 106-112, 140-153 Kafka Before the Law (in Collected Stories, p. 3-4) Oven of Achnai Al-Ghazali The Deliverance from Error, Freedom and Fulfillment, tr. Richard J. McCarthy (Boston: American University of Beirut, 1980) |
| Week 5 February 19 | Fantastical situations: Ibn Tufayl Review |
Adamson, p. 157-193, 201-214 Ibn Tufayl, Hayy Ibn Yaqzan Midrash selections Recommended: Introduction 1-93. |
| Week 6 February 26 | Animals pt. 1 |
Adamson, p. 84-90, 98-105 The Case of the Animals versus Man before the King of the Jinn: a Translation from the Epistles of the Brethren of Purity, tr. Lenn E. Goodman and Richard McGregor (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), p. 63-65, 99-113, 115-121, 127-131, (131-143 jinn and human history—recommended), 202-221, 230-268, 287-88, 290-5, 311-16 Moses Hadas, Berechiah ben Natronai ha-Nakdan (Jewish Aesop) Interpretations of the Song of Songs |
| Week 7 March 5 | Religious Diversity and Truth |
Halevi, Kuzari Abelard: dialogue between philosopher (crypto Muslim), Jew, and Christian. The Case of the Animals, 301-11 Lessing, Parable of the Rings |
| Week 8 March 12 | Religious Diversity and Politics |
Mendelssohn, Jerusalem Montaigne, On Cannibalism Testament of Ardashir, D. Gutas, Greek Thought, Arabic Culture, p. 80-81 Ibn Kammuna, selections |
| Week 9 March 19 | Apophasis and Impossible Truths |
Maimonides, selections Zohar, selections Stories of the Sufi Saints Hidden Ways p. 83-93 |
| Week 10 March 26 | Love |
Hassidic Parables Poems Bahya ibn Paquda, Duties of the Heart Nissim Gaon,Treatise on Relief after Adversity |
| Week 11 April 2 | Animals pt. 2 |
Kafka, Animal Parables Kafka: Before the Law |
| Week 12 April 9 | Modernity |
The Devil’s Advisory Council Ali Shariati, selected essays, speeches Freud, Visit to Rome |