Reason and Rationality in the Quran

Ibrahim Kalin

Paperback

9781905837519

In this short yet timely book, Dr Ibrahim Kalin, based on his thorough study of the history of philosophy, analyses the categories of reason and rationality within the Islamic intellectual context as it was shaped by the foundational theory underlying the Quran and as developed by the Islamic theological and intellectual tradition. Dr Kalin argues that far from being a self-standing entity, reason functions within a larger context of meaning and existence, intelligibility and moral thinking. He shows clearly how the Quranic perspective of rationality moves us beyond the internal workings of a single, disengaged mind and places us with a larger context of ontological significance.

Contents:

1. The Modern Context: The Enlightenment Reason

2. Ratio and Intellectus

3. The Ontological Ground of Quranic Rationality

4. Reason and Thinking in Context

5. The Vocabulary of Thinking in the Quran

6. Reason, Heart and the Human Conscience

7. Reason, Existence and the Universe

8. Rationality and Morality

9. Rationality as Coherence

9. Islam and Science: Notes on an Ongoing Debate

10. Knowing the Self and the Non-Self

Conclusion: Is Return to Reason Still Possible?