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Al-Ghazālī's Unspeakable Doctrine of the Soul
Unveiling the Esoteric Psychology and Eschatology of the Iḥyāʾ
Series: - Brill's Studies in Intellectual History, Volume: 104
Author:
This text marks a radical rethinking of the soul and the afterlife in the writings of al-Ghazālī (d. 505/1111), particularly within his magnum opus,
Reviving Religious Knowledge (Ihyā’ulūm al-dīn). Attending closely to variations of genre and discourse mode within his works, it attempts to resolve some of the major ambiguities that have vexed al-Ghazālī’s readers for nearly nine hundred years.
Beginning with his theory of multi-level, multi-genre writing and working through his theological, philosophical, and mystical positions on the soul’s true nature, the study culminates in an exploration of al-Ghazālī’s mystical “psycho-cosmology”, where some startling conclusions are drawn regarding his most intimate thoughts on the “secrets” of the soul and the Hereafter.
Meticulously researched and yet engagingly written, this study speaks to both the specialist and the amateur intellectual historian.
Beginning with his theory of multi-level, multi-genre writing and working through his theological, philosophical, and mystical positions on the soul’s true nature, the study culminates in an exploration of al-Ghazālī’s mystical “psycho-cosmology”, where some startling conclusions are drawn regarding his most intimate thoughts on the “secrets” of the soul and the Hereafter.
Meticulously researched and yet engagingly written, this study speaks to both the specialist and the amateur intellectual historian.
Timothy J. Gianotti, Ph.D. (1998) in Medieval Islamic Philosophy and Theology, University of Toronto, is an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Penn State University, where he teaches a variety of courses in Islamic Intellectual History, Mysticism, and Comparative Religion. His primary research interests involve classical Islamic understandings of psychology, epistemology, and eschatology.
"...this study [...]contains excellent biographies of canonical writers, synopses of their works, and overviews of historial periods...the book represents a contribution to ecumenism by making little-studied Byzantine and Eastern canonical authors more comprehensible to a wider audience and inviting a proper assessment of their work."
Patrick Viscuso, Speculum, 2004.
Patrick Viscuso, Speculum, 2004.
Acknowledgments
Introduction, Methodology and Overview
1. All Things to All People? Deciphering al-Ghazālī’s Doctrine of Discourse
2. Al- Ghazālī’s Dogmatic/Theological ( kalāmī) Formulation of the Soul
3. Al- Ghazālī’s Condemnation of the Philosophical Psychology and Eschatology in the Incoherence of the Philosophers ( Tahāfut al-falāsifa)
4. The Heart ( al-qalb) and al- Ghazālī’s Mystical Discussions of the Soul
5. Through a Looking Glass: The Heart Reflected in al- Ghazālī’s Mystical Cosmology
6. The Wayfarer’s Final Journey: al- Ghazālī’s Esoteric Eschatology (conclusion)
Appendix: Translation and Commentary: The Epistle of Presence
Bibliography
Index of Topics, Terms, and Proper Names
Introduction, Methodology and Overview
1. All Things to All People? Deciphering al-Ghazālī’s Doctrine of Discourse
2. Al- Ghazālī’s Dogmatic/Theological ( kalāmī) Formulation of the Soul
3. Al- Ghazālī’s Condemnation of the Philosophical Psychology and Eschatology in the Incoherence of the Philosophers ( Tahāfut al-falāsifa)
4. The Heart ( al-qalb) and al- Ghazālī’s Mystical Discussions of the Soul
5. Through a Looking Glass: The Heart Reflected in al- Ghazālī’s Mystical Cosmology
6. The Wayfarer’s Final Journey: al- Ghazālī’s Esoteric Eschatology (conclusion)
Appendix: Translation and Commentary: The Epistle of Presence
Bibliography
Index of Topics, Terms, and Proper Names
Readers interested in Islamic Philosophy, Islamic Theology, and Islamic Mysticism (Sufism), as well as those more generally interested in Islamic Intellectual History and Medieval Studies.