IBN KHALDUI N'S PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY : a study in the philosophic foundation of the science of ... culture

This book, first published in 1957, is the study of 14th-century Arab historian Ibn Khaldun, who founded a special science to consider history and culture, based on the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle and their Muslim followers. In no other field has the revolt of modern Western thought against traditional philosophy been so far-reaching in its consequences as in the field of history. Ibn Khaldun realized that history is more immediately related to action than political philosophy because it studies the actual state of man and society. He found that the ancients had not made history the object of an independent science, and thought it was important to fill this gap. A factual acquaintance with the conclusions of Ibn Khaldun’s reflections on history is not the same as the full comprehension of their theoretical significance. When these fundamental questions are answered, it becomes possible to pose the specific question of the relation of Ibn Khaldun’s philosophy of history, or his new science of culture, to other practical sciences and, particularly, to the art of history. After an exposition of the major trends of Islamic historiography, part of this book attempts to answer this question through the analysis of the method and intention of the sections of the ‘History’ where Ibn Khaldun himself examines the works of major Muslim historians, shows the necessity of the new science of culture, and distinguishes it from other practical sciences. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Original Title Page 6 Original Copyright Page 7 Dedication 8 Preface 10 Acknowledgments 16 Table of Contents 18 I. Historical Background and Fragments of a Biography 20 Historical Background 1 Early Life and Training 30 Political and Scholarly Career in Western Islam 40 Ibn Khaldûn in Egypt 56 II. Philosophy and the Law 66 History and Wisdom 66 Philosophy and the Law 76 Philosophy in the Islamic Community 87 Philosophy and Style 116 The Regime of the Solitary 128 III. From History to the Science of Culture 136 Faith, Traditionalism, and Rationalism in Islamic Historiography 136 Ibn Khaldûn's Dialectical Study of Islamic Historiography 150 The Need for a Science of Culture: Preliminary Statement of Its Principles 162 IV. The Science of Culture: Its Subject Matter and Problems 174 Human Nature and the Nature of Culture 174 The Origin of Human Culture 190 Primitive Culture and Civilized Culture 196 The State 207 The City 212 Economic Life 219 The Sciences 224 V. The Science of Culture: Its Principles and Method 228 The Principles of the Science of Culture as Defined by Its End 228 The State and Culture: The Formal and Material Causes 235 Solidarity: The Efficient Cause 256 The Common Good: The Final Cause 273 Summary and Conclusion 288 Bibliography 300 General Index 314 A Study in the Philosophic Foundation of the Science of Culture