Global and Islamic approach to philosophy highlighted

Dr Sajjad Rizvi discusses how to decolonise philosophy, go beyond traditional interpretations

KARACHI:

The move towards a global philosophy may signal a turn towards decolonisation in knowledge, especially in the study of humanities, setting it free from the shackles of colonialist epistemology, said Dr Sajjad Rizvi during his talk at Habib University.

Dr Sajjad, a professor of Islamic studies and the director of the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at University of Exeter was delivering a lecture on Global Philosophy, Intellectual History, and Askesis: What is Philosophy in the Islamic Traditions?

During the talk, Dr Sajjad highlighted the ways to and the importance of rethinking the nature of philosophy in Islam and aimed to place it in the sphere of global philosophy to go beyond the traditional Western philosophical confines.

He argued that perhaps he himself was a little "too optimistic" about the ability of Anglo-American philosophy departments to adjust to a more global philosophy and instead proposed that people would have to wait and see if it is a "passing fad".

Dr Sajjad, however, maintained that the shift was something noticeable in philosophy departments.

Making a stronger case for global philosophy he stated that "no European traditions of philosophy", including Islamic philosophy, contributed to what "we mean by philosophy by way of argument by ontology, thought experiments, mutex or mutual exclusion narratives and even politics".

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He claimed that global philosophy dislodged individuals from their "parochial and highly specialised, perhaps trivial concerns", and instead shifted people towards the idea that "true task of philosophy" was to consider, debate and keep alive urgent problems that we face and embody. From there on, attempts could be made to solve these problems and evaluate the success of "possible solutions", he said.

After highlighting the underlying problems in the way philosophy was currently studied and emphasizing the need for the globalization of philosophy through decolonisation, the professor then discussed how to bring philosophy and the Islamic traditions into the conversation, without "falsifying" those traditions. Speaking about Islamic tradition and philosophy, Dr Sajjad maintained that there were questions regarding methodology, boundaries and the "internal boundaries which exist within Islamic traditions".

He emphasised that philosophy needed to be more than mainstream philosophers such as Aristotle and Kant and transcend other “exclusionary practices”, and that one should pay attention to more holistic forms of discourse designed to seek meaning and understanding.

He further stated that by opening up Islamic philosophy people could further the process of decolonization and possibly discard the old Eurocentric philosophy education and replace it with a wider pedagogy of living and being.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 13^th, 2022.