The Wisdom of the Mystic East

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The Wisdom of the Mystic East
Suhrawardi and Platonic Orientalism

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John Walbridge - Author

SUNY series in Islam

Price: $54.50
Hardcover - 184 pages

Release Date: August 2001

ISBN10: 0-7914-5051-1
ISBN13: 978-0-7914-5051-2

Price: $26.95
Paperback - 184 pages

Release Date: August 2001

ISBN10: 0-7914-5052-X
ISBN13: 978-0-7914-5052-9

Available as a Google eBook for other eReaders and tablet devices. Click icon below...

Summary

An expert on the thought of medieval Islamic philosopher Suhrawardi argues that philosophers have romanticized this work as a revival of “oriental” wisdom.

Twelfth-century Islamic philosopher Suhrawardi attempted to revive Platonism in an era of Avicennan Aristotelianism. Modern scholars have portrayed Suhrawardi as wishing to revive an “oriental” wisdom and associate him with ancient Persia. In this book, John Walbridge uses Suhrawardi as a vehicle to explore the tendency of Platonic philosophers to romanticize oriental wisdom.

The work presents Suhrawardi and defines the problem of Platonic orientalism, both in general and in relation to Suhrawardi. Egypt and the Hermetic tradition, ancient Persia and the notion of metaphysical light, and India, Buddhism, and the transmigration of souls are all covered in terms of their influence or lack of influence in Suhrawardi's thought. The book also explores the role of Platonic and Suhrawardian orientalism in various cultures over the years.

“Walbridge has the rare ability to make what might on the surface seem like arcane debates lively and relevant to today. His book is full of such important insights, the implications of which go well beyond simply Suhrawardi or even Islamics.” — Juan R. I. Cole, University of Michigan

John Walbridge is Associate Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at Indiana University, and the author of The Leaven of the Ancients: Suhrawardi and the Heritage of the Greeks, also published by SUNY Press.

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction: Suhrawardi and the Orient

1. The Lure of Oriental Wisdom

The Greek Pseudepigrapha and Platonic Orientalism
The Basis of Platonic Orientalism
Suhrawardi as Orientalizing Neoplatonist

2. Hermes of Egypt: God and Philosopher

Hermes as Universal Sage: Greece, Egypt, Chaldaea
The Problem of Philosophy and the Greek Gods
The Sabians of Harran
The Hermetic in Suhrawardi's Thought

3. Light, Darkness, and the Kings of Ancient Iran

The Philosophical History of Light
Ghazali, the Ghost at Suhrawardi's Feast
Light, Darkness, and the Persians

4. Buddha's Gate of Gates: The Problem of Reincarnation

Buddhism and the Muslims
The Indian Sages and the Ancients
The Problem of Reincarnation
Recapitulation

5. The Past as Orient: The Ideological Heritage of Suhrawardi

Hermes and the Miraculous Preservation of the Avesta
The Commentators and the Persian Side of Suhrawardi
India: The Ancient Sages from Akbar to the Raj
Zoroaster and the Magi: Bruno, Voltaire, and Anquetil
Suhrawardi and Iranian Nationalism: The Persian Sages Return to Iran

Notes
Bibliography
Index

Related Subjects

Middle East Studies
Philosophy
Religion

39662/39663(NE/MH/MC)

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