The Legacy of Henry Corbin: Review of Henry Corbin : penseur de l'islam spirituel

"...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, February 17, 2011

Review of Henry Corbin : penseur de l'islam spirituel

Le monde de l'imaginal et la fonction théophanique : des resssources pour renouveler notre temps?

Henry Corbin : penseur de l'islam spirituel

par Daryush Shayegan

Éditeur : Albin Michel

Résumé : Quelle synthèse et quels apports tirer de la monumentale étude de l’Islam iranien par H. Corbin ? Une remarquable réflexion sur le cheminement et les résultats de sa pensée, des études médiévales à l’EPHE à l’Islam spirituel en Iran, rigoureusement conduite par un penseur qui l’a bien connu. READ THE REVIEW

(Thanks to Daniel Proulx for alerting us to this.)