Talk Islam » philosophy

So I’m reading Lawrence Durrell’s orie …

willow — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 03:13:28 +0000

So I’m reading Lawrence Durrell’s orientalist masterwork The Alexandria Quartet, which, if you haven’t read it, is excellent. Durrell is certainly guilty of a few of Said’s more serious pet peeves–under much discussion, as we’ve seen, now that Orientalism is entering its fourth decade–but overall the picture he paints is complex and thoughtful. (He focuses on Coptic rather than Muslim culture, it should be noted, and has a very astute handle on how the British complicated the relationship between the two.)

When I read, I dog-ear pages that I think contain really amazing phrases/insights. This was one I ran across today:

“To have a grasp of the language was nothing, he now realized; for Leila exposed the hollowness of the knowledge when pitted against understanding.”

My take: so, so true. A concise summary of what fells most western expats/travelers in the Middle East: you arrive thinking you know something, discover you know nothing, and retreat into racism because it’s the only thing you have in your intellectual arsenal that makes sense.

Thoughts?

Assertion: “The more highly public life …

willow — Sun, 25 May 2008 06:00:23 +0000

Assertion: “The more highly public life is organized, the lower does its morality sink.” –EM Forster

Traditionalism — the intricacies of lif …

thabet — Tue, 20 May 2008 14:22:46 +0000

Traditionalism — the intricacies of life have a purpose.
Modernism — the intricacies of life obscure the purpose.
Postmodernism — the intricacies of life have no purpose.

Are you a frequentist or a Bayesian?

thabet — Fri, 02 May 2008 07:15:11 +0000

Are you a frequentist or a Bayesian?

Contentions:

thabet — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 10:39:20 +0000

Contentions:
1. Individualism can be traced to the Abrahamic commitment to monotheism, judgement and humanity’s distinction from the world.

2. Christianity is ideologically unable to accept the existence of other religions. Islam, however, is able to do this.

New book on how Foucault, Derrida and De …

thabet — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 20:30:55 +0000

New book on how Foucault, Derrida and Deleuze transformed the intellectual life of the US.