Sajjad Rizvi

14 January | 2 PM (UTC)

9 AM New York
11 AM Brasilia
2 PM Lisbon
3 PM Berlin
For other locations click here.

Abstract

Philosophy as a way of life finds parallels in some of the traditions in Islam. In this talk, I examine the applicability of PWL as a lens for understanding aspects of philosophical and philosophy-adjacent traditions in the Islamic East from the 11th century onwards by considering three issues. The first is the creative difference between philosophy and wisdom and the very notion of the sage especially through the Platonic tradition of godlikeness (about which Hadot himself said less). The second is the community of the sage and what we might be able to say about the communal practice of philosophy in the Islamic East. The third is the notion of spiritual exercises and how we might analyse a scheme of such practices within Islamic contexts. In all of these, I would like to investigate how thinkers and practitioners in the Islamic East present modifications and extensions of Hadot’s conception. Finally, I consider some objections to PWL as a way of making sense of philosophical traditions in Islam.

Bio

Sajjad H. Rizvi is Senior Lecturer in Islamic Studies and Director of the Centre of Islamic Philosophy at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter. Rizvi completed his BA and MA in modern history, as well as his MPhil in modern middle East studies from the University of Oxford. He received his PhD in Oriental studies from the University of Cambridge. Rizvi worked as a lecturer at the University of Bristol before moving to the University of Exeter, where he is now a professor of Islamic intellectual history, specialising in Islamic philosophical and hermeneutical traditions. His publications include Mullā Ṣadrā Shīrāzī: His Life and Works and the Sources for Safavid Philosophy (Oxford University Press, 2007) and Mullā Ṣadrā and Metaphysics: Modulation of Being (Routledge, 2009).

Registration required via email to mapping.pwl@gmail.com.