The Problematics of Enlightenment: Human Reason, North African Philosophy, and the Global South

Originally published in Arabic as Madkhal ila al-Tanweer [Introduction to the Enlightenment], 1994In The Problematics of Enlightenment: Human Reason, North African Philosophy, and the Global South , Mourad Wahba explores the relevance of the philosophy of the Enlightenment to contemporary issues in Egypt and the Global South more generally. Wahba provides a historical account of the reception of Enlightenment philosophical discourse in the Arabic-speaking world through the study of the work of Rifaʿa al-Tahtawi, Muhammed Abdu, Farah Antun, Abbas Mahmoud al-ʿAqqad, and Louis Awad. Wahba argues that the claim that human reason is the ultimate source of justification—trumping the authority of inherited social institutions and the claims of historical revelation—is a universalizable principle whose actualization would make progress possible in Egypt and elsewhere. This book, translated by Zeyad el Nabolsy, provides Anglophone readers access to a philosophy from the Global South that does not take the alleged Eurocentrism of Enlightenment philosophies as its central problematic. Moreover, Wahba is concerned with situating the problems that emerge in the context of contemporary Arabophone North African philosophy in the larger context of African philosophy, including engagement with the work of Senghor and Nkrumah.AcknowledgmentsTranslator’s IntroductionIntroduction to the Enlightenment1 The Enlightenment2 Enlightenment and the Man on the Street3 Authenticity and Modernity in the Third World4 The Mystery of Tolstoy’s Letter to Mohammed Abdu5 The Paradox of Ibn Rushd6 Ibn Rushd between Farah Antun and Mohammed Abdu7 Rifaʿa and Enlightenment8 Al- ʿAqqad’s Reception of Goethe in Light of the Enlightenment9 Louis Awad and the EnlightenmentConclusion: The Problematic of Enlightenment and CultureBibliography IndexMourad Wahba is emeritus professor of philosophy, Ain Shams University.Zeyad el Nabolsy is assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy at York University. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Contents Acknowledgments A Note on the Translation Introduction to the Enlightenment Notes Chapter 1: The Enlightenment Montesquieu (1689–1755) Voltaire (1694–1778) Rousseau (1712–1778) Diderot (1713–1784) La Mettrie (1709–1751) Helvétius (1715–1771) Baron D’Holbach (1723–1789) Condorcet (1743–1794) The Ideologists Kant (1724–1804) The Traditionalists24 Notes Chapter 2: Enlightenment and the Man on the Street Notes Chapter 3: Authenticity and Modernity in the Third World Notes Chapter 4: The Mystery of Tolstoy’s Letter to Mohammed Abdu Notes Chapter 5: The Paradox of Ibn Rushd Notes Chapter 6: Ibn Rushd between Farah Antun and Mohammed Abdu Note Chapter 7: Rifaʿa and the Enlightenment Notes Chapter 8: Al-ʿAqqad’s Reception of Goethe in Light of the Enlightenment Notes Chapter 9: Louis Awad and the Enlightenment Notes Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index About the Author and Translator