CONTEMPORARY ISLAMIC
PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
The Philosophers
 Seyyed Hossein Nasr
 Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas
Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas
DEWESTERNIZATION OF KNOWLEDGE
What do we know? (al-Attas)
 Dynamic Sensible realities: Material or physical
entities
 Existence ( Mawjud) = Khalq al-jadid
 Static Intelligible realities (Ma’qulat): Conceptual
entities
 Essence (Mahiyyah)
 Particular reality (Mawjud)
 Matter (Maddiyah)
 Form (Suriyah)
 Universal concept (Wujud)
 Absolute Being: Wajib al-Wujud
What do we know? (al-Attas)
 Non Manifested Existence
 The Absolute Being
 The Divine Oneness
 Manifested Conceptual Existence
 Divine Unity
 The Name & Atributes
 Permanent Archetypes
 Mnifested Physical Existence
 Exterior Achetypes
 World of Empirical things
How do we know? (al-Attas)
 Senses
 External senses:
 Internal senses:
 Common sense
 Representation
 Estimation
 Imagination
 Intellect
 Active intellect: practical reason
 Cognitive intellect: theoretical reason
Why do we know? (al-Attas)
 To attain happiness
 Happiness (sa’adah)
 In this world (dunyawiyyah)
 Self (nafsiyah)
 Body (badaniyyah)
 External things (karijiyyah)
 In Hereafter (ukhrawiyah)
Seyyed Hossein Nasr
ISLAMIC SCIENCE
What do we know? (Nasr)
 God: the Ultimate Self Reality
 The Eternal Order
 The Human Self-awareness
 The Ordered Nature
 Sanatana Dharma
 Philosophia Priscorium
 Al-Hikmat al-Khalidah
How do we know?
 work  love  knowledge
 karma marga  bhakti marga jnana marga
 al-makhafah  al-mahabbah  al-ma’rifah
 hylikoi psychoi pneumatikoi
 muslim mu’min muhsin
Why do we know?
To attain
 Material happiness:
 Being in peace and harmony with nature as the
manifestation of Divine Majesty and Beauty
 Spiritual happiness:
 return to the Divine Origin
Conclusion
 Naquib al-Attas wants to islamize science by
changing the materialistic paradigm with the
traditional integrated metaphysics of Islam
 Hossein Nasr wants to integrate modern
science into the traditional sacred science
 Both philosophers return the traditional
hierarchy into the modern concept of reality