"...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

Monday, June 24, 2024

The Orientalist in Japan

 East Asia

Iranian documentary "Orientalist" in historical-philosophical genre goes to Japan / knowing Iranian-Shia wisdom

The film, "Orientalist" with the English title of "The Seeker of Orient", is the story of life and times of the famous French thinker and philosopher of the 20th century, Henry Corbin. According to Pars Today, this documentary, made by Masood Taheri is going to have its first screening abroad on June 29 at Meiji Institute of Philosophy in Tokyo. Ehsan Shariati and Bahman Zakipoor are two Iranian professors in Japan who will attend the ceremony at Izomi Campus of Meiji University. 

AhlulBayt News Agency: The Iranian documentary, "Orientalist" by "Masood Taheri" will be screened in Tokyo. 

The film, "Orientalist" with the English title of "The Seeker of Orient", is the story of life and times of the famous French thinker and philosopher of the 20th century, Henry Corbin. According to Pars Today, this documentary, made by Masood Taheri is going to have its first screening abroad on June 29 at Meiji Institute of Philosophy in Tokyo. Ehsan Shariati and Bahman Zakipoor are two Iranian professors in Japan who will attend the ceremony at Izomi Campus of Meiji University. 

The 110-minute documentary film, "Orientalist" was made in 2009 and was unveiled in February the same year. But, a few days after unveiling, it faced with the Corona virus epidemic which caused all cinemas and theaters to close. Now, after 5 years, a scientific ceremony will be held at Meiji Institute of Philosophy under the title, "Islam, Corbin and Heidegger". Ehsan Shariati, who had attended the first screening of the film in Iran's National Library, is going to deliver a speech in the ceremony. 

Orientalist has been filmed in Iran, France, the US, Turkey and Switzerland. 

Professors such as Herman Lindau, Christian Jambet, Pierre Lorie, Mohammad Ali Amir Moezzi, Ian Richard, Karim Mojtahedi, Gholamhossein Ebrahimi Dinani, Enshallah Rahmati, Bahman Zakipoor, Hassan Seyyed Arab and Alireza Saati will attend this ceremony. 

Who was Henry Corbin? 

Henry Corbin was a French philosopher, Iranolog and experts of Shia school of thought. He has been called the most outstanding Western philosopher specialized in Iranian spiritual wisdom and philosophy of Shia. 

Corbin had a great impact in the West in introducing Shia school of Islam and he was the one who drew the attention of orientalist studies from Sunni Islam to Shia Islam. His book, "Iranian Islam" has been known as his most important and detailed book. The book is about the development of philosophical and spiritual thoughts in Iran with a focus on clarification of the special role of Iranians in presenting a Shia and inward commentary of Islam.

Henry Corbin started his studies with European and Christian philosophies. But, upon acquaintance with Illuminist philosophy was interested in the Islamic philosophy, particularly Shia philosophy in Iran. Corbin taught in Tehran University for 20 years, part of which he even lived in Iran to broaden his studies on the field. During the period, he became familiar with Muslim thinkers, especially the great exegete of the noble Qur'an, Allameh Mohammad Hossein Tabatabaei. 

Corbin conducted several interviews with Allameh Tabatabaei in 1959-1960 on the ideology, teachings and history of Shia school of thought. He believed that thinkers and orientalists used to attain information on Islam mainly through Sunni scholars and sources; hence, the reality of Shiism had not been introduced to the West as it deserved. 

This French thinker said, "Contrary to what the orientalists maintain, in my opinion, true and genuine Shiism stands upright and has the specifications of a true school of thought, unlike what has been introduced to the West. What I have achieved after scientific research, is that one should look at the spiritual realities of Islam through Shia window which deal with this religion realistically. Thus, I have tried to introduce this sect to the West as its reality deserves." 

Allameh Tabatabaei in his second meeting with Corbin wrote, "In this meeting, Corbin stated that Shia sect is the only sect which has preserved the relation of divine guidance between God and people forever and constantly keeps Wilayah alive and lasting."

Corbin said, "When I was in Europe, I presented a lecture in Geneva on Imam Mahdi, the 12th Imam of Shias. This issue was quite novel for the European thinkers who had attended the session!"

He added, "I believe that all religions pursue a reality, but Shiism is the only sect which has perpetuated this reality and made it continuous while maintaining that this feature remains among the human world."


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Henry Corbin on the right, Allameh Tabatabaei on the left

Wednesday, September 13, 2023

Phenomenology and Historicism in the Study of Islamic Philosophy: The Significance of Corbin’s Approach

Phenomenology and Historicism in the Study of Islamic Philosophy: The Significance of Corbin’s Approach 

Zane Leach

Bachelor Global & Comparative Philosophy


Abstract:This essay concerns the significance of Henry Corbin’s methodology for the ‘Western’ study of Islamic philosophy and its relevance for the revival of traditional metaphysics in postmodernity. This methodology established itself as an alternative to the traditional scholastic and modern colonial approaches to the study of Islamic philosophy. Under the influence of Heidegger, Corbin developed a methodology wherein the inadequacies of modern historicism could be consummated into a reassessment of traditional metaphysics. The aim of this essay is to articulate the foundations and demonstrate the justifiability of Corbin’s approach. This is done for the purpose of elucidating how the metaphysics of Corbin and the Islamic Platonism from which he draws can contribute to the revitalization of contemporary Western philosophy. This essay thus constitutes an exploration of the problem of returning to traditional metaphysics through phenomenological hermeneutics and a corresponding mysticism.

Tuesday, September 5, 2023

Henry Corbin & the Arts... continued: Jarvis Brookfield



From Creative Boom


Psychedelic painter Jarvis Brookfield likes to delve deep into our psyches with his groundbreaking work; his latest exhibition is no exception. As he highlighted in our exclusive interview a while back, Jarvis's art is a celebration of the boundless nature of the imagination.

His new collection draws inspiration from Henry Corbin's essay The Mundus Imaginalis and delves into the concept of a "place of images in suspense," which exists between spiritual realms and the sensory world: a 'place' that's as ontologically real as the world we perceive.

Tuesday, February 7, 2023

I am now on Substack

All my lectures and classes are now posted to my website and to Substack! 

Please subscribe for free here:  https://tomcheetham.substack.com



Thursday, July 1, 2021

Online Classes and other news.

As some of you may have noticed, I no longer post here with any regularity. My focus now is offering online classes. Sometimes I remember to post classes on my website tomcheetham.com, but your best way of seeing what is going on in my writing and teaching worlds is to subscribe to my email Newsletter. To get on the mailing list, please just email me, or go to my website and sign up there. 



Sunday, January 26, 2020

“The Orientalist” to premiere in Tehran



TEHRAN – Iranian director Masud Taheri’s documentary “The Orientalist” about French philosopher, theologian and orientalist Henry Corbin, will premiere at Eyvan Shams Hall in Tehran on Monday. 
Produced by the Documentary and Experimental Film Center, the film is a sequel to Taheri’s 2017 documentary “The Eastern” about Japanese expert on Islam Toshihiko Izutsu. 
Moreover, “The Orientalist” will be reviewed during a session at the National Library and Archives of Iran on Tuesday. 
Scholars Enshallah Rahmati, Ehsan Shariati and Reza Kuhkan are scheduled to deliver speeches during the session. 
Corbin (1903-1978) was a philosopher, theologian, Iranologist and professor of Islamic Studies at the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris. He was the author of “En Islam Iranien” (Islam in Iran).
Photo: A poster for Iranian director Masud Taheri’s documentary “The Orientalist” about French scholar Henry Corbin.
 
ABU/MMS/YAW


Thursday, October 17, 2019

A Corbin Drama!!! This is big news.


This
Splinters of a Careless Alphabet
A staged reading of a new play by Roxanne Varzi

Sunday, November 10
2:00pm
Winifred Smith Hall
University of California, Irvine


On the eve of a major protest what can French philosophy possibly have to do with the Iranian Revolution?

The setting is a chance encounter on a snowy Tehran night between an Iranian student and a French philosopher. Ali, a newlywed graduate student at Tehran University goes to return a book at the University and ends up in the office of French philosopher Henri Corbin. Unable to pass up on the opportunity to speak with Corbin, Ali spends the evening discussing Mystical Islam while his new wife, Leili is out protesting. He hears gunshots and runs out into the crowd to look for her.
We regard the 1979 Iranian Revolution as an Islamic movement, few know that a French philosopher may have had an influence on the Revolution. Splinters of a Careless Alphabet brings philosophy, history and religion to life through three students and a prominent Western philosopher on the eve of the Iranian Revolution when they are forced to come to terms with the choices they made that night and the resulting effects on their faith, relationships and ultimately the future of the country.


Splinters of a Careless Alphabet has been read at the American Anthropological Association’s Visual Anthropology Festival in San Jose in 2018, at University of California Irvine’s graduate student Anthropology in Transit and at The Hopscotch Reading Room in Berlin, Germany. 

This is the first staged reading and will follow a workshop of the play by professional actors under the direction of Elina Dos Santos, Co-Artistic Director of the Rogue Machine Theatre, and Resident Director of the Pacific Resident Theatre, both in Los Angeles, CA. 

Roxanne Varzi is a writer, artist, filmmaker and professor of Anthropology at University of California, Irvine. She was born in Iran to an American mother and Iranian father and migrated to the U.S shortly after the Iranian Revolution in 1979.






Wednesday, October 2, 2019

Journée Corbin 30 nov 2019



Journée Corbin 30 nov 2019


Daniel Gastambide, président de l'AAHSC
Marc Gastambide, trésorier
Pierre Lory, secrétaire général
- 9h30-10h30 André VAUCHEZ (Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres),«La militia Christi dans la spiritualité de l’Occident médiéval (XIIe-XIIIe siècles)»

-10h30-11h30 Christian JAMBET (EPHE), « Le Jihâd majeur selon Mullâ Sadrâ »

-11h30-12h30 Martin AURELL (Universitéde Poitiers), « Contester la croisade au
nom de l’Évangile aux XIIeet XIIIe siècles »


14h15-15h00 Daniel PROULX « Recherches historiques autour de la notion de combat chez Henry Corbin »

15h00-16h00 Sepideh PARSAPAJOUH (CNRS), « La passion des martyrs de
guerre en Iran chiite contemporain - Un regard anthropologique »

16h00-17h00 Kabira NAÏT RAÏSS (UC Louvain) : « Frontière militaire et eschatologie chez les premiers ascètes combattants de l’islam »

Samedi 30 novembre 2019de 9h30 à 17h30 à l’amphithéâtre de l’INHA, 
2 rue Vivienne, 75002 Paris



Tuesday, July 16, 2019

The World Turned Inside Out in a new translation!



The World Turned Inside Out
Henry Corbin and Islamic Mysticism


by Tom Cheetham


Translated by
Amir Hossein Pournamdar


in Farsi! Available here:


&




Sunday, July 7, 2019

“GREETINGS, I AM AN IMMORTAL GOD!”



“GREETINGS, I AM AN IMMORTAL GOD!”
READING, IMAGINATION, AND PERSONAL DIVINITY IN LATE ANTIQUITY,
 2ND – 5TH CENTURIES CE 

Mark Roblee


Readers of this blog will find MUCH of interest in this dissertation,
which can be accessed as a pdf here:





Tuesday, June 4, 2019

Hermes Explained






Hardcover – June 17, 2019
by Wouter Hanegraaff (Editor), Peter Forshaw (Editor), Marco Pasi (Editor)

Few fields of academic research are surrounded by so many misunderstandings and misconceptions as the study of Western esotericism. For twenty years now, the Centre for History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents (University of Amsterdam) has been at the forefront of international scholarship in this domain. This anniversary volume seeks to make the modern study of Western esotericism more widely known beyond specialist circles, while addressing a range of misconceptions, biases, and prejudices that still tend to surround it. Thirty-one major scholars in the field respond to questions about a wide range of unfamiliar ideas, traditions, practices, problems, and personalities that are central to the field. By challenging many taken-for-granted assumptions about religion, science, philosophy, and the arts, this volume demonstrates why the modern study of esotericism leads us to reconsider much that we thought we knew about the story of Western culture.




Thursday, April 11, 2019

New Translation!!!





TOM CHEETHAM 


SINOPSIS
De los cinco libros que Tom Cheetham ha consagrado a la obra del gran islamólogo francés Henry Corbin (1903-1978), es este volumen el que dedica mayor extensión y profundidad a descifrar el término árabe ta?wil, que conforma en sí mismo el concepto más importante de todo el corpus corbiniano. Ta?wil es la interpretación espiritual del sentido interior del Corán, que debe distinguirse de su lectura literal para convertirse en la tarea esencial de cualquier búsqueda espiritual. Tras ofrecer una visión general de la vida y obra de Corbin, que tanto amplió el contexto hermenéutico de las religiones, la espiritualidad contemporánea y la teoría y práctica del arte, especialmente de la poesía, Cheetham nos va desvelando el concepto ismailí de la gnosis del tiempo cíclico y ciertos relatos visionarios de Avicena, para explicar el sentido interior e integral de la Palabra en los textos sagrados e introducirnos en la hermenéutica del retorno al sentido original. Pero la idea central de este ensayo es la Imaginación, con mayúsculas, como potencia espiritual. El autor intenta clarificar las diferencias entre las perspectivas de Corbin, Jung y Hillman sobre su naturaleza. Algo que «no es un ejercicio meramente erudito», dice Cheetham, «desde el momento en que constatamos el papel esencial que juega en el gran esquema de las cosas, cómo influye decisivamente en lo que cada cual imagina y cómo uno responde a las demandas que crea la propia Imaginación». Tom Cheetham, además de sus cinco libros sobre las implicaciones de la obra de Henry Corbin en el mundo contemporáneo, ha escrito un volumen de poemas. Es miembro de la Academia Temenos ?fundada por Kathleen Raine y dedicada al fomento de las artes de la Imaginación? y profesor adjunto de la Universidad del Atlántico en Bar Harbor, Maine.






Tuesday, April 9, 2019

Newsletter!




I'm going to send out a semi-regular email Newsletter with information about online classes, lectures & workshops, new writing and other bits of interest. 

Sign up for it


& thanks for your interest

Tom Cheetham