Sharing Poetic Expressions:: Beauty, Sublime, Mysticism in Islamic and Occidental Culture

246 Pages·2011·2.951 MB·English

by  William C. Chittick (auth.), A-T. Tymieniecka (eds.)

SHARINGPOETICEXPRESSIONS
IslamicPhilosophy andOccidentalPhenomenology inDialogue
VOLUME 6
Editor-in-Chief:
Anna-TeresaTymieniecka
ExecutiveCommitteeofTheCenterforthePromotionofCross-Cultural
Understanding:
DennisLogue,TuckSchool,DartmouthCollege,Emeritus
AlexanderSchimmelpenninck,VicePresidentPublishing,Springer
SeyyedHosseinNasr,UniversityProfessor,GeorgeWashingtonUniversity
President:
Anna-TeresaTymieniecka
Assessor:
SalahaddinKhalilov,ProfessorofPhilosophy,Rector,AzerbaijanUniversity
Sharing Poetic Expressions
Beauty, Sublime, Mysticism in Islamic
and Occidental Culture
Editedby
Anna-TeresaTymieniecka
WorldInstituteforAdvancedPhenomenologicalResearchandLearning,
and,TheCenterforthePromotionofCross-CulturalUnderstanding,
Hanover,NewHampshire,USA
123
Editor
Prof.Anna-TeresaTymieniecka
WorldInstituteforAdvanced
PhenomenologicalResearch
andLearning
TheCenterforthePromotionof
Cross-CulturalUnderstanding
IvyPointeWay1
03755NHHanover
USA
[email protected]
ISBN978-94-007-0759-7 e-ISBN978-94-007-0760-3
DOI10.1007/978-94-007-0760-3
SpringerDordrechtHeidelbergLondonNewYork
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2011925925
©SpringerScience+BusinessMediaB.V.2011
Nopartofthisworkmaybereproduced,storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmittedinanyform
or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise,
without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied
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bythepurchaserofthework.
Printedonacid-freepaper
SpringerispartofSpringerScience+BusinessMedia(www.springer.com)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We present here a collected volume of essays read at the first meeting of
the founded CENTER FOR THE PROMOTION OF CROSS-CULTURAL
UNDERSTANDINGwhichtookplaceonAugust13and14,2009onthetopic
ofPOETICEXPRESSIONS:SAYINGTHESAMEINDIFFERENTWAYS,
BEAUTY, SUBLIME, CREATIVITY IN ISLAMIC AND OCCIDENTAL
CULTURE.InthePrologueweshallexplainthehistoryandMissionStatement
presidingoverthefoundingCenter.Weowethankstothespeakerswhohave
offeredustheiressaysforthisbeautifulanduniquecollection.
Mr.NazifMuhtaroglu,oftheUniversityofKentucky,servedwithexpertise
asSecretaryGeneralofthemeetingwithMr.LouisTymienieckiHouthakkeras
hisassistant.Asusually,Mr.JeffreyHurlburthasperformedtheadministrative
work.Allofthemmeritourthanks.
Anna-TeresaTymieniecka
v
PROLOGUE
1. HISTORICAL PROFILE
It is with joy that we present to the public the first fruit of our work in the
newlyfoundedCENTERFORTHEPROMOTIONOFCROSS-CULTURAL
UNDERSTANDING. This institution joining our Islamic metaphysics and
Phenomenology program of the World Phenomenology Institute has been
founded in a meeting which took place on January 27 and 28, 2007 at the
Harvard Divinity School with the following members: Professor Nargiz Arif
Pashayeva, Vice-Rector on International Relations, Baku State University,
Azerbaijan; William Chittick, Professor of Philosophy and Religion, State
UniversityofNewYork,StonyBrook;JamesDuesenberry,ProfessorEmeritus
of Economics, Harvard University; Mr. Peter Flanagan, Attorney at Law,
Hanover, New Hampshire; Mr. Louis Tymieniecki Houthakker, Assistant,
World Phenomenology Institute, Hanover, New Hampshire; Professor
SalahaddinKhalilov,Rector,AzerbaijanUniversity;Mrs.RosemaryLunardini,
former editor of Dartmouth Medical Journal, Hanover, New Hampshire;
William McBride, Professor of Philosophy, Purdue University; Professor
Sachiko Murata, State University of New York at Stony Brook; Professor
A.L. Samian, Director, Center for General Studies, National University of
Malaysia; Mr. Alexander W. Schimmelpenninck, Executive Vice President,
Springer Science & Business Media B.V.; Thomas Ryba, Professor of
Philosophy and Religion, Notre Dame University; Professor Patricia Trutty-
Coohill,DepartmentofCreativeArts,SienaCollege,Loudonville,NewYork;
Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka, Professor of Philosophy, President of The World
PhenomenologyInstitute,Hanover,NewHampshire.Thismeetingsetoutour
programofwhichthefirstrealizationwhichtookplaceonAugust13and14,
2009atRadcliffeGymnasium,Cambridge,Massachusetts.
vii
viii PROLOGUE
Its topic—the title of our present collection, SHARING POETIC
EXPRESSIONS: BEAUTY, SUBLIME, MYSTICISM IN ISLAMIC AND
OCCIDENTALCULTUREexpressesthesenseofourproposedendeavors.
2. MISSION STATEMENT
A world ever more extensively interlinked is calling out for intensive serving
humaninterestsbroaderthanthoseinspiringourtechnologicaladvance.Thein-
terfacebetweencultures—atthemomentespeciallybetweentheOccidentand
Islam—thatpresentchallengestomutualunderstanding,inparticular,thechal-
lenge of how the world may address our common existential concerns while
preservingculturalidentities.
The aim of our association of scholars from various fields of inquiry is to
elaboratefoundationforsuchgreaterunderstandingandtoestablishnewlinks
of communication. Reaching to common roots in human life, knowledge and
creativityasthesearefoundanalogicallyacrossthelivingcosmosonitspath
toultimatereality,maysetusonthewayinthehumanquest.
In pursuit of this goal, the Society plans to hold periodic conferences at
whichparticipantswillseektoelucidatetheirownculturalvaluesandassump-
tionsandtoexplorethevaluesandassumptionsoftheirfellowparticipantsin
aopen,interdisciplinarymanner.
Inourpresentphaseofthehistoryofourworldthereisobviousaconundrum
ofculturaltrendsfromvarioussectorsofthecivilizationwhichhavedeveloped
theirspecifictrendsofthinkingthegreatissuesofexistence,valuesoflifeand
appreciation aswellastheirattitudesoftendenciesandfeelingtowardothers
aswellasthinkingaboutthesenseoflife.
Theseattitudeswhichhavedevelopedindifferencetoeachtrendduetodif-
ferent natural geographic conditions to which its inhabitants are subjugated:
climate,natureofthesoil,sand,mountains,cosmicinfluences,etc.leadingto
typesoftoilandcollaborativeandsocietalformsandhabitsofinhabitants.We
cannotforgetalsotheevolutionaryprogress/regressofthelivingbeingsculmi-
natinginhumanswhosedevelopmentofconsciousnessenhancesexperiences
to the pitch of sensibility and spiritual unfolding toward beauty, generosity,
sublimationoffeelingsandattitudes...
Whileatthelowestdimensionsofexistencethestruggleforlifepromptsto
resolve it at its vital level in competitions and rivalry, at these more elevated
spheresofemotionaldevelopmentsthestrictlyhumanreactionsaresumblim-
ized.Thevitalexperienceindividualizedbylife’ssingularconditionsbecomes
elevated toward a spiritualizing sphere at which all human beings encounter
PROLOGUE ix
andshare.Nomatterinwhichparticulartribalformsandinterpretations they
stay.Indeed,whileweallstayintheexistentialsituationsofvitalcompetitions
makingsurgeadverseorinimicalfeelingsandattitudes,here,atthehigherlevel
ofhumanspiritualelevationofconsciousnessweallrevealdeeper sourcesof
ourbeingnessgoingbeyondvitalandrudimentaryexperiencesofvibrantexis-
tence.Ifweneedtoseektheircommoninterpretivesymbols,reachthecipher
ofthecommonexistentialelevationwewillreachtogetherthedeepeststream
ofthefraternalreality.
Anna-TeresaTymieniecka
Lefttoright.
Backrow:
ClaudioG.Antoni
LouisTymienieckiHouthakker
MahmoudJaran
DetlevQuintern
MiddleRow:
BruceRoss
Anna-TeresaTymieniecka
GulKale
HerbertCoyne
FrontRow:
NazifMuhtaroglu
HabipTürker