Work · Philosophy in the Islamic World
The Spirit of Modernity
Modernity is not identical with its Western realisation: its spirit rests on the principles of maturity, critique and universality, which an Islamic modernity can realise in its own, ethical way.
Introduction
The Spirit of Modernity appeared in 2006. Taha Abderrahmane distinguishes the “spirit” of modernity from its “reality”: the spirit consists of three principles – maturity (rushd), critique (naqd) and universality (shumūl) – while the reality is their particular realisation in Western history. Modernity can therefore be realised in different ways, and he outlines an Islamic modernity grounded in ethics. The book applies this distinction to questions such as human rights, the family and the relation of religion and politics.
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