Alternative Paradigms: The Impact of Islamic and Western Weltanschauungs on Political TheoryMany scholars were convinced that the existing Western style of life, thought, and political institutions could easily be adapted to Muslim societies by bringing them into line with Islamic belief systems and rules. But after some experiences they were surprised when even intellectuals who had Western academic training remained deeply attached to Islam. In this book, Davutoglu develops a comparative analysis between Western and Islamic political theories and images. His argument contends that the conflicts and contrasts between Islamic and Western political thought originate from their philosophical, methodological, and theoretical background rather than mere institutional and historical differences. The questions of how and through which processes these alternative conceptions of the world affect political ideas via a set of axiological presuppositions are the crux of the book. Contents: Transliteration; Introduction; I. Theoretical Inquiries. Western Paradigm: Ontological Proximity; Islamic Paradigm: Tawhid and Ontological Differentiation; II. Political Consequences. Justification of the Socio-Political System: Cosmologico-Ontological Foundations; Legitimation of Political Authority: Epistemologico-Axiological Foundations; Power Theories and Pluralism; The Political Unit and the Universal Political System; Concluding Comparative Remarks |
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absolute Abû accepted Allâh ancient anthropocentric argues argument Aristotle assumption axiological basic bay'ah belief caliphate characteristics Christian Church civilization concept cosmological created Dâr al-Islam Descartes differentiation dimension empiricism epistemological epistemologico-axiological ethical example existence fiqh formation framework fundamental Greek Hobbes human Ibn Rushd Ibn Taymiyyah idea identification ijma imagination imâm institutional institutionalization intellectual interpretation Islamic political jizya justification kalâm Kitâb legitimation means Metaphysics methodological modern monism moral Mu'tazilah Muslim nation-state nature norms ontological hierarchy ontological proximity ontological transcendency origin pantheistic paradigmatic particularization of divinity perspective philosophical pluralism pluralistic political authority political culture political legitimacy political power political theories polytheism polytheistic pre-Islamic prescriptivist principle Prophet Qur'ân Qur'ânic relationship religion religious revelation Roman semantic significant social society socio socio-economic socio-political system specific sphere structure supremacy tawhîd teleology theism theocentric theology theoretical tradition Trans transformation ummah underlines understanding unity universe Weltanschauung Western political