The Meaning of the Concept in this Book
Humanism is the axis around which this book turns, insofar as it is a critical, educational, and historical project rather than an abstract slogan. For Arkoun, it is not a formal humanism detached from reality, but a living humanism committed to human concerns and linking freedom with reason and responsibility.
It also appears as both a religious and philosophical humanism, understood here as a historical value tied to Islamic thought, not confined to the European model. For this reason, the book insists that humanism is not merely a theoretical conception, but a practical human desire that takes shape in lived experience.
Its Place in the Book’s Argument
The book builds its argument on the claim that the contemporary crisis arises from a double break with tradition and modernity, and that humanism is one of the pathways capable of reconnecting Islam with reason, freedom, and history. Humanism is therefore linked in the book to a critique of closure, a critique of marginalization, and to the idea that recognizing plurality is a condition of democracy.
In this context, the book shows that Arab humanism historically flourished in an urban environment and in philosophical knowledge, then declined with the closure of ijtihad. Humanism thus becomes a historical and intellectual issue, not merely an ethical label, and comes to be associated with reforming religious and philosophical education, and with resisting violence and fanaticism.
How It Works Within the Atlas
Within the atlas, humanism functions as a unifying concept linking history, philosophy, education, and democracy. It intersects with religious anthropology when it relies on comparative history, with criticism of formalism when it shows that formal humanism is detached from reality, and with the idea of education when its reform is understood as a way to contain violence.
It also opens onto an important distinction between human-centered humanism and God-centered humanism, and to the differentiation between religious humanism and secular humanism. Through it, it becomes clear that human creativity is born from the interaction of traditions, and that humanism is a critical and educational project that protects religious reason from danger and prevents the collapse of its historical conditions when ijtihad becomes closed.
Nearby Pages
- Critical humanism reconnects Islam with reason, freedom, and history
- Arab humanism historically flourished and then declined with the closure of ijtihad
- Reforming religious and philosophical education contains violence and fanaticism
- Religious humanism and philosophical humanism
- Human-centered humanism