"A masterful job in discussing the philosophical origins of modern notions of freedom, its accomplishments and limitations. Khuri's coverage is simply breathtaking from Berque, Habermas and Reich to Bellah, Mardin, the Arab philosophers and Hourani. An original and first-class piece of scholarship."—John L. Esposito, author of Islam and Politics, Fourth Edition
Description
Freedom, Modernity, and Islam provides a discussion of the philosophical origins of the notions of freedom in both a Western and Islamic context. Richard K. Khuri maintains that our standard theories of modernization do not fully explain the global resurgence of fundamental religion. Only with a new analysis of freedom, using Western and non-Western sources, can we have a spontaneous synthesis that will inspire genuine freedom for all individuals
and societies in the Arab-Muslim world.
In the West, in post-Enlightenment times, the definition of freedom has shrunk; it is now irreducibly enmeshed with narrow notions of rationality and a “morality” of self-interest. He challenges this conception and explicates other dimensions of freedom: quality, transcendence, and the conditions under which community might enhance freedom.
Khuri then applies that analysis to his examination of the status of freedom in the Arab Muslim world, past and the present. He determines which ideas have led to the considerable lack of freedom that marks many Middle Eastern societies today.
About the Author
Richard K. Khuri is a philosopher whose scholarly articles have been published in the United States and Europe. His literary and critical essays appear regularly in the International Daily Al-Hayat.
February 1998