The Legacy of Henry Corbin: Corbin Lectures in England

"...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.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Corbin Lectures in England - A Reminder

Henry Corbin, Islam & the Imagination - Saturday Oct 9, Oxford, England
Details here.

The Prophetic Tradition & The Battle for the Soul of the World: An Introduction to the
Spiritual Vision of Henry Corbin - DR TOM CHEETHAM

The Role of the Grail in Henry Corbin’s Thought - DR JOHN CAREY

In Search of Lost Speech: Nostalgia, Eros and the Angel Out Ahead - DR TOM CHEETHAM

Correspondences Between English Romantic and Persian Sufi Poets - DR LEONARD LEWISOHN

ALSO - on October 7 at the University of Kent in Canterbury, I'll be presenting another talk on Corbin & poetry:
The Barzakh & the Open Field.
Persons from outside the University should contact me if they have an interest in attending. (tcheetham@gmail.com)