{"product_id":"9781509551361","title":"Ibn Khaldun and the Social Sciences Discourse on the Condition of Im-possibility","description":"\u003ch3\u003eCritical South\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch1\u003eIbn Khaldun and the Social Sciences\u003c\/h1\u003e\u003ch2\u003eDiscourse on the Condition of Im-possibility\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003ch3\u003eJavad Tabatabai | Philip Grant | Milad Odabaei\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cb\u003eSocial Science \/ Sociology \/ General\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eArabic and European studies of Ibn Khaldun, the great medieval polymath, follow one of two paths. In one direction, scholars interpret his \u003ci\u003eMuqaddimah\u003c\/i\u003e (‘Prolegomenon’), written in 1377, as the point at which the new social sciences emerged. They identify Ibn Khaldun’s ‘new science of culture’ as sociology or as an ‘Islamic’ alternative to sociology. In the other direction, the interpretation of Khaldunian discourse is confined to the Islamic–Aristotelian paradigm of its time. The epistemological novelty of the \u003ci\u003eMuqaddimah\u003c\/i\u003e is dismissed and the science of culture is perceived as a minor contribution to the Aristotelian curriculum.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eCharting a different path, Javad Tabatabai’s highly original book is an enquiry into the condition of the im-possibility of the social sciences in the Islamic–Aristotelian paradigm. It theorizes the condition of im-possibility of the ‘scientific revolution’ as the ‘epistemic obstacle’ to modernity in Islamic civilization. This theorization revisits Michel Foucault’s discussion of the condition of possibility of the human sciences in light of the history of Christian–Aristotelian thought and the broader French debates about epistemology from Bachelard to Althusser.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eJavad Tabatabai offers a critical theory of tradition and modernity in the Middle East, elaborating on a historical situation where social and human sciences emerged by way of colonial and post-colonial translations of discourse from Europe, and in a historical and epistemological break with inherited traditions of knowledge. In this situation, Tabatabai highlights the significance of reactivating Ibn Khaldun’s critical reckoning with the limit of inherited traditions as the political-theological horizon of renewal.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e \u003cb\u003eJavad Tabatabai\u003c\/b\u003e was formerly Professor and Vice Dean of the Faculty of Law and Political Science at the University of Tehran.\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ctable\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePublication Date: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e31 December 2024\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePublisher: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePolity Press\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eImprint: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePolity\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eISBN-13: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e9781509551361\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eFormat: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePaperback \/ softback\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePage Count: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e352\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eWeight (oz): \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e18.4\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e","brand":"Polity Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44314241368204,"sku":"9781509551361","price":24.26,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0710\/9545\/1788\/files\/9781509551361.jpg?v=1780237931","url":"https:\/\/lateknightbooks.com\/products\/9781509551361","provider":"Late Knight Books and Services, LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}