The project aims at presenting, for the first time, a comprehensive history of philosophy in the Islamic world from the 13th to the 18th century. It belongs to the larger, four-volume project Philosophie in der islamischen Welt, already supported by the SNF, which is itself part of theoverall series Grundriss der Geschichte der Philosophie (Ueberweg). The other volumes of Philosophie in der islamischen Welt have already appeared (Vol. 1: 8th-10th c.) or are readyfor publication (Vol. 2: 11th-12th c.; Vol. 4: 19th-20th c.). The new project will thus continue working on this topic and complete the Islam series. There are, however, certain peculiarities, given the fact that the centuries to be covered by Vol. 3 are by far the least wellknown and most underexplored period in the history of Islamic philosophy. This requires specific efforts, three of them being particularly important.

 

First, we need an unusually large team of authors contributing to our volume; this is why we have invited many prominent scholars working on post-classical philosophy in various countries (US, Canada, UK, Germany, Switzerland, Turkey, Iran etc.) to join our team, and happily they all have agreed.

 

Second, we need particular research efforts in order to cover all the periods and topics that should feature in the volume; therefore, we plan to organize, apart from the usual working meetings of the author team, three research workshops on specific topics to be held with the authors working in that field.

 

Third, we need sufficient time to investigate the complex subject matter and to accomplish the challenging task of writing Vol.3; therefore, the overall schedule of our project comprises a period of 8 years, the first half of which is the subject of this application.

 

Finally, it should be mentioned that Vol. 3 is meant to form a kind of bridge between the Islam series and the Grundriss in general. Its focus is clearly the Islamic world but it will also contain comparative elements (esp. to European philosophy) expressing thereby the integrative approach to the historiography of philosophy characteristic for the Neuer Ueberweg. This is why the general editor of the Grundriss and the series editor of Philosophie in der islamischen Welt have agreed to cooperate from the very beginning on working and accomplishing the present project.

 

Members

Principal Investigator
Laurent Cesalli

Scientific Collaborators
Patric Schaerer

Research Associates

• Ulrich Rudolph, Asien-Orient-Institut Department of Indian Studies Universität Zürich, Switzerland
• Anke von Kügelgen, Institut für Studien zum Nahen Osten und zu muslimischen Gesellschaften Universität Bern, Switzerland
• Robert Wisnovsky, Institute of Islamic Studies McGill University, Canada
• Renate Würsch, Seminar für Nahoststudien Departement Gesellschaftswissenschaften, Switzerland