Avicenna and the Aristotelian Left

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy, Political, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science, Politics, History & Theory
Cover of the book Avicenna and the Aristotelian Left by Ernst Bloch, Columbia University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Ernst Bloch ISBN: 9780231548144
Publisher: Columbia University Press Publication: December 11, 2018
Imprint: Columbia University Press Language: English
Author: Ernst Bloch
ISBN: 9780231548144
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Publication: December 11, 2018
Imprint: Columbia University Press
Language: English

Ernst Bloch was one of the most significant twentieth-century German thinkers, yet he remains overshadowed by his Frankfurt School contemporaries. Known for his engagement with utopianism and religious thought, Bloch also wrote incisively about ontological questions. In his short masterpiece Avicenna and the Aristotelian Left, Bloch gives a striking account of materialism that traces emancipatory elements of modern thought to medieval Islamic philosophers’ encounter with Aristotle.

Bloch argues that the great medieval Islamic philosopher Avicenna (Ibn Sina) planted the seeds of a radical materialism still relevant for critical theory today. He contrasts Avicenna’s and Aquinas’s interpretations of Aristotle on form and matter to argue that Avicenna’s reading democratizes power and undermines clerical and political authority. Bloch explores Avicenna’s world and metaphysics in detail, showing how even his most recondite theoretical concerns prove capable of pointing toward radical social transformation. He blazes an original path through the history of ideas, including Averroes (Ibn Rushd), Spinoza, and Marx as well as lesser-known figures. Here translated into English for the first time, Avicenna and the Aristotelian Left is at once a succinct summation of Bloch’s own idiosyncratic materialism, a provocative reconstruction of the Western philosophical tradition in light of its exchanges with Islamic thought, and a vital resource for contemporary debates about materialism in critical theory.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Ernst Bloch was one of the most significant twentieth-century German thinkers, yet he remains overshadowed by his Frankfurt School contemporaries. Known for his engagement with utopianism and religious thought, Bloch also wrote incisively about ontological questions. In his short masterpiece Avicenna and the Aristotelian Left, Bloch gives a striking account of materialism that traces emancipatory elements of modern thought to medieval Islamic philosophers’ encounter with Aristotle.

Bloch argues that the great medieval Islamic philosopher Avicenna (Ibn Sina) planted the seeds of a radical materialism still relevant for critical theory today. He contrasts Avicenna’s and Aquinas’s interpretations of Aristotle on form and matter to argue that Avicenna’s reading democratizes power and undermines clerical and political authority. Bloch explores Avicenna’s world and metaphysics in detail, showing how even his most recondite theoretical concerns prove capable of pointing toward radical social transformation. He blazes an original path through the history of ideas, including Averroes (Ibn Rushd), Spinoza, and Marx as well as lesser-known figures. Here translated into English for the first time, Avicenna and the Aristotelian Left is at once a succinct summation of Bloch’s own idiosyncratic materialism, a provocative reconstruction of the Western philosophical tradition in light of its exchanges with Islamic thought, and a vital resource for contemporary debates about materialism in critical theory.

More books from Columbia University Press

Cover of the book Science and Social Work by Ernst Bloch
Cover of the book The Creation of Iraq, 1914-1921 by Ernst Bloch
Cover of the book Anthropologists in the Field by Ernst Bloch
Cover of the book The Cinema of Raúl Ruiz by Ernst Bloch
Cover of the book The Rationale Divinorum Officiorum of William Durand of Mende by Ernst Bloch
Cover of the book Documentary by Ernst Bloch
Cover of the book The Psycho Records by Ernst Bloch
Cover of the book Beyond Bolaño by Ernst Bloch
Cover of the book A History of Brooklyn Bridge Park by Ernst Bloch
Cover of the book The Structural Approach to Direct Practice in Social Work by Ernst Bloch
Cover of the book Mental Causation by Ernst Bloch
Cover of the book Greenhouse of the Dinosaurs by Ernst Bloch
Cover of the book Becoming the News by Ernst Bloch
Cover of the book Video Revolutions by Ernst Bloch
Cover of the book Gray Sabbath by Ernst Bloch
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy