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Enemy in the Mirror: Islamic Fundamentalism and the Limits of Modern Rationalism: A Work of Comparative Political Theory
256![Enemy in the Mirror: Islamic Fundamentalism and the Limits of Modern Rationalism: A Work of Comparative Political Theory](http://img.images-bn.com/static/redesign/srcs/images/grey-box.png?v11.9.4)
Enemy in the Mirror: Islamic Fundamentalism and the Limits of Modern Rationalism: A Work of Comparative Political Theory
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Overview
A comparison between Islamic fundamentalism and various Western critiques of rationalism yields formerly uncharted connections between Western and Islamic political thought, allowing the author to reclaim an understanding of political theory as inherently comparative. Her arguments bear on broad questions about the methods Westerners employ to understand movements and ideas that presuppose nonrational, transcendent truths. Euben finds that first, political theory can play a crucial role in understanding concrete political phenomena often considered beyond its jurisdiction; second, the study of such phenomena tests the scope of Western rationalist categories; and finally, that Western political theory can be enriched by exploring non-Western perspectives on fundamental debates about coexistence.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9780691058443 |
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Publisher: | Princeton University Press |
Publication date: | 11/21/1999 |
Edition description: | New Edition |
Pages: | 256 |
Product dimensions: | 6.00(w) x 9.25(h) x (d) |
About the Author
Table of Contents
Preface xi
A Note on Spelling xv
CHAPTER ONE
Re-Marking Territories 3
Comparative Political Theory and Foundationalist Political Practice 8
The Politics of Naming: Defining Fundamentalism 16
CHAPTER TWO
Projections and Refractions: Islamic Fundamentalism and Modern Rationalist Discourse 20
The Irrational Rational Actor: Theories of Islamic Fundamentalism 25
Meaning and Power: A Dialogic Model of Intepretation 36
Toward an Understanding of Islamic Fundamentalism 42
CHAPTER THREE
A View from Another Side: The Political Theory of Sayyid Qutb 49
Sayyid Qutb: Radical and Martyr 53
Modernity as Pathology: Analysis and Exhortation in Signposts along the Road 55
Rationalism and Reenchantment 84
Conclusion: Beyond Orientalism 88
CHAPTER FOUR
A View across Time: Islam as the Religion of Reason 93
Afghani and Islamic Philosophy 96
'Abduh and The Theology of Unity 105
Through the Back Door: Rationalism and Islamic Modernism 114
Coda: Khomeini and Shìite Fundamentalism 117
CHAPTER FIVE
Inside the Looking Glass: Views within the West 123
The Crisis of Authority 127
The Decay of Morality 133
The Decline of Community 142
Modern Anxieties and Metaphysical Urges 150
CHAPTER SIX
Conclusion: Cultural Syncretism and Multiple Modernities 154
Notes 169
Bibliography 217
Index 233
What People are Saying About This
Enemy in the Mirror is a necessary corrective to a good deal of ill-considered polemic, one that has important implications for understanding all types of fundamentalism. Roxanne Euben makes convincing arguments, encouraging the reader to reconsider the origins of modern rationalism and anti-rationalism. Her insistence that political theory open its doors to consideration of questions drawn from other cultures is also saluta0ry and long overdue.
"Enemy in the Mirror is a necessary corrective to a good deal of ill-considered polemic, one that has important implications for understanding all types of fundamentalism. Roxanne Euben makes convincing arguments, encouraging the reader to reconsider the origins of modern rationalism and anti-rationalism. Her insistence that political theory open its doors to consideration of questions drawn from other cultures is also saluta0ry and long overdue."—Edmund Burke, III, University of California, Santa Cruz"Roxanne Euben's argument that one should analyze Islamic fundamentalist thought not only for its function but also for its meaning—the intrinsic value of its ideas—is valid and absolutely timely. Enemy in the Mirror is a well-researched and impressive contribution to the analysis of Islamic political thought and to comparative political philosophy."—Seyla Benhabib, Harvard University
Roxanne Euben's argument that one should analyze Islamic fundamentalist thought not only for its function but also for its meaning--the intrinsic value of its ideas--is valid and absolutely timely. Enemy in the Mirror is a well-researched and impressive contribution to the analysis of Islamic political thought and to comparative political philosophy.