"...the Imagination (or love, or sympathy, or any other sentiment) induces knowledge, and knowledge of an 'object' which is proper to it..."
Henry Corbin (1903-1978) was a scholar, philosopher and theologian. He was a champion of the transformative power of the Imagination and of the transcendent reality of the individual in a world threatened by totalitarianisms of all kinds. One of the 20th century’s most prolific scholars of Islamic mysticism, Corbin was Professor of Islam & Islamic Philosophy at the Sorbonne in Paris and at the University of Teheran. He was a major figure at the Eranos Conferences in Switzerland. He introduced the concept of the mundus imaginalis into contemporary thought. His work has provided a foundation for archetypal psychology as developed by James Hillman and influenced countless poets and artists worldwide. But Corbin’s central project was to provide a framework for understanding the unity of the religions of the Book: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. His great work Alone with the Alone: Creative Imagination in the Sufism of Ibn ‘Arabi is a classic initiatory text of visionary spirituality that transcends the tragic divisions among the three great monotheisms. Corbin’s life was devoted to the struggle to free the religious imagination from fundamentalisms of every kind. His work marks a watershed in our understanding of the religions of the West and makes a profound contribution to the study of the place of the imagination in human life.

Search The Legacy of Henry Corbin: Over 800 Posts

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Gleanings from the Internet

This short notice appeared in Iran Daily on June 29, 2005: Henry Corbin Memorial Plaque Installed

The text of the article reads as follows:
TEHRAN, June 28--A plaque to commemorate the noted French philosopher Henry Corbin was unveiled in a ceremony here Monday which was attended by the French Ambassador to Iran Francois Nicouloud, reported IRNA. The plaque was installed at the intersection of Neauphle-le-Chateau and Marjan streets in downtown Tehran. Meanwhile, Marjan Street was renamed after Henry Corbin, a philosopher who conducted extensive oriental studies and was deeply interested in Iranian culture and civilization. Speaking at the ceremony, Nicouloud said that Corbin (1903-1978) was a great philosopher who is held in high esteem in France. He successfully introduced Iranian culture, literature and civilization to the Europeans, he added. The outgoing French ambassador said that Corbin proved that culture will develop when it is opened up to others. Addressing the same gathering, Chairman of Tehran City Council Mehdi Chamran said that Iran and France have friendly relations and hoped that they would further develop in all fields.

Also of interest:

A useful and extended synopsis of Temple and Contemplation and a discussion board was posted here on Ismaili Mail in 2007.

The Henry Corbin Page on WeRead.com.

Though it is not clear who wrote it, here is a lecture on "Individuation and Angelology" given in London in 1996 to the Guild of Pastoral Psychology.

And these additions to the Bibliography:
Analytic Comparison between 'Allahmah Tabataba's's View and that of Henry Corbin concerning Human Perfection, by Morteza Hajhosseini. Transcendent Philosophy 1, 31-45.
The Door to the Imaginal Realm, by Mary Pat Mann. Mytholog, 4(3): 2006

And a website of note: Imaginal.net

And this, of considerable interest (in French): Présence d’Henry Corbin, vendredi 8 août 2008 - par Jean-Michel Cros

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