The Legacy of Henry Corbin: Gershom Scholem & Friends

"...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.

Friday, April 28, 2017

Gershom Scholem & Friends

This from Steven Aftergood:

"I have been reading a 2015 book about Gershom Scholem called "From Berlin to Jerusalem and Back" by Noam Zadoff. The book includes the attached photograph taken at Eranos/Ascona in 1952, which made me think of you. It features Scholem on the far right, seated next to Corbin and Stella Corbin. Mircea Eliade is in the center. A Dutch theologian named Gilles Quispel is on the far left. (The man next to him is not identified.)"

If anyone knows who the unknown fellow is please let us know.

Here's a good review of the book in Haaretz:

Finally, This Author Puts the Great Gershom Scholem in Context

A new Hebrew biography is the first to place the philosopher-historian’s remarkable breadth in a historical light, while offering a coherent understanding of his professional and political development.

Nitzan Lebovic May 02, 2015 3:00 AM