The Sacred Versus the Secular: Nasr On Science

Endnotes

[^1] Knowledge and the Sacred (Albany: SUNY Press, 1989), p. [^130]:

[^2] The Need for a Sacred Science (Albany: SUNY Press, 1993), pp. 1-[^2]:

[^3] Not all traditional sciences are, however, sacred. There is always a human element attached to the formulation of traditional sciences which cannot be taken to be sacred in the strict sense of the term. For Nasr's distinction between the two, see The Need for a Sacred Science, p. [^96]:

[^4] The best historical account of the great chain of being is A. Lovejoy's The Great Chain of Being: A Study of the History of and Idea (New York: Harper Torchbooks, 1960).

[^5] Titus Burckhardt, The Mirror of the Intellect: Essays on Traditional Science and Sacred Art, tr. by William Stoddart (Cambridge: Quinta Essentia, 1987), p. [^17]:

[^6] Nasr gives a detailed analysis of this point in his works on Islamic science. Especially his Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines has been devoted to the concept of nature and the methods used for its study by Ikhwan al-Safa, al-Biruni and Ibn Sina.

[^7] This epistemological claim has far-reaching consequences for our relationship with the world and with other human beings. Unfortunately, there is no space here to delve into this important subject. One may, however, refer to Huston Smith's concise discussion in his Forgotten Truth: The Primordial Tradition (New York: Harper and Row, 1967), pp. 96-[^117]:

[^8] In contemporary philosophy of science, this issue has been discussed around the question of whether we can have observation without theory. As the realists and the instrumentalists alike agree on, scientific observation is always theory-laden and this does not necessarily undermine the scientific validity of observation within a particular science.

[^9] For an illustration of this point, see Nasr's Islamic Science An Illustrated Study (Kent: World of Islam Festival Publishing Company Ltd., 1976), and Science and Civilization in Islam (Cambridge, 1987).

[^10] Rene Guenon, La Crise du Monde Moderne, (Gallimard, 1946), pp. 76-[^77]:

[^11] Although one may cite tens of classical books and treatises on the hierarchy of being and knowledge, two contemporary works are worth-mentioning here: E. F. Schumacher, A Guide for the Perplexed (New York: Harper and Row, 1977), especially, pp. 15-25; and Huston Smith, Forgotten Truth: The Primordial Tradition (New York: Harper and Row, 1967), especially, pp. 34-[^59]:

[^12] Michael Devitt, Realism and Truth, (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1997), [^2]:nd edition, pp. 13-14.

[^13] The distinction between reason and intellect on the one hand, and their unity at a higher level of consciousness on the other, are the two fundamental tenets of the traditional school. For Nasr's exposition of these terms, see his Knowledge and the Sacred, chapter [^1]:

[^14] For Nasr's critique of scientific instrumentalism which is a version of anti-realism, see Man and Nature: The Spiritual Crisis in Modern Man (ABC International Group, Inc., 1997), pp. 25-[^27]: At this point, it should be mentioned that Glyn Ford's defense of Islamic science, which is based on his interpretation of Nasr, appears to rest on a misreading of Nasr. Ford defines science as a social construction of natural phenomena mediated by the scientific community and society with no claim to objectivity -- a thesis promulgated, inter alia, by Kuhn and Feyerabend. In this sense, every scientific tradition, modern Western, Islamic or Chinese, is entitled to be science notwithstanding their conflicting claims of truth and validity. It is not difficult to see the anti-realist component in this assertion: Islamic science is a valid science not because it is based on the scientific study of nature but because it is one of such social constructions that we collectively agree to call 'science'. As I have tried to show here, Nasr does not subscribe to such an anti-realist interpretation of science. For Ford's argument, see his 'A Framework for a New View of Islamic Science' in 'Adiyat Halab An Annual Devoted to the Study of Arabic Science and Civilization, (Aleppo: The University of Aleppo, 1978-1979), vols. VI-V, pp. 68-74.

[^15] In a famous prayer, the Prophet of Islam asks God to 'show him the reality of things as they are in themselves' (arini haqaiq al-ashya kama hiya). This prayer which has been elaborated upon by many Muslim scholars and philosophers suggests that the ultimate reality and meaning of things can be attained only through the aid of Divine guidance. Placed within a larger context, the same principle applies to the proper understanding of the order of nature.

[^16] There is no intrinsic or necessary connection between realism in science and belief in progress. Nevertheless, historically, the majority of those who take the realist position have allowed some kind of a belief in progress which accounts for the linear development of natural sciences. By contrast, most of the anti-realists and instrumentalists, notably Kuhn, Feyerabend and Van Fraassen, have rejected the idea of progress by replacing cumulative development in science with paradigm shifts that alter the very definition of science. Interestingly enough, both Guenon and Nasr reject the idea of progress as an intrinsic quality of natural sciences. In this regard, Guenon goes even further and describes the development of chemistry from alchemy and astronomy from astrology as 'degeneration' rather progress and evolution -- degeneration in the principles that make alchemy, astrology or the science of the soul (ilm al-nafs) traditional sciences. The denial of progress in natural sciences as this term is understood currently is obviously the logical result of the metaphysical outlook that Nasr expounds and defends as a prominent member of the traditional school. For Guenon's remarks, see La Crise, pp. 79-[^81]:

[^17] Nasr has authored a number of important works on Islamic science. See his Islamic Science - An Illustrated Study (Kent: World of Islam Festival Publishing Company Ltd., 1976), An Annotated Bibliography of Islamic Science (Lahore: Suhail Academy, 1985) 3 vols, Science and Civilization in Islam (Cambridge, 1987), An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines (Cambridge, 1964). Nasr has also written many articles on the meaning of Islamic science and its relation to modern Western science.

[^18] Science and Civilization in Islam, p. [^22]:

[^19] Ibid., p. [^25]:

[^20] In addition to Nasr's aforementioned works on Islamic science, see also his brief treatment in A Young Muslim's Guide to the Modern World (Cambridge: The Islamic Texts Society, 1993), pp. 85-[^102]:

[^21] Islamic Science, p. [^4]:

[^22] Sadr al-Din Shirazi, one of the greatest metaphysicians of the post-Avicennan Islamic philosophy, on whom Nasr has written extensively, depicts the natural phenomena as 'pure relations' (idafa mahda) when seen in relation to the absolute (al-mutlaq) and the necessary Being (al-wajib), which is God.

[^23] A thorough survey of Islamic sciences ranging from geography and natural history to physics and astronomy is to be found in Science and Civilization in Islam.

[^24] In a famous anecdote of the history of science, Laplace, explaining his model of the universe to Napoleon, declares God as a 'redundant hypothesis'. For Laplace’s famous reply that ‘I had no need of that hypothesis’ see, Roger Hahn, ‘Laplace and the Mechanistic Universe’ in God and Nature, ed. David Lindberg and Ronald Numbers, (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1986).

[^25] Rorty goes so far as to attribute the 'invention of the mind' to Descartes and his cogito which has come to be the source of modern theories of knowledge and the ill-formulated mind-body problem. See his Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature, (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1979), p. 17ff.

[^26] The distinction between the primary and secondary qualities made by Galileo is one of the foundations of the Scientific Revolution. This issue was later taken up in philosophy by Hume and became one of the pillars of modern empiricism. For the importance of this distinction, one may refer, among others, to the following: R. G. Collingwood, The Idea of Nature, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1945), pp. 102-105; Wolfgang Smith, Cosmos and Transcendence Breaking Through the Barrier of Scientistic Belief, (Illinois: Sherwood Sugden & Company, 1984), pp. 15-16; Alexander Koyre, From the Closed World to the Infinite Universe, (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1957), pp. 88-109; S. H. Nasr, Religion and the Order of Nature, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996), pp. 136-138; Ian Barbour, Religion and Science Historical and Contemporary Issues, (San Francisco: Harper SanFrancisco, 1997), pp. 9-17; E. Burtt, The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Physical Science (New York: Doubleday Anchor Books, 1932), pp. 83-[^91]:

[^27] For an account of Galileo's distinction from this point of view, see Herbert Butterfield, The Origins of Modern Science 1300-1800, (New York: The Free Press, 1968), pp. 99-[^102]:

[^28] Collingwood, ibid., p. [^103]:

[^29] On the traditional school's view of quality and quantity as two philosophical categories, see Rene Guenon, The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Time, tr. by Lord Nortbourne, (Luzac and Company Ltd)., 1953, pp., 19-[^32]:

[^30] The idea of determinism and prediction has been influential not only in the natural sciences but also, and more perniciously, in the social sciences. The best example of this is social Darwinism and behaviorism as evidenced in the work of Pavlov in the former Soviet Union and that of B. F. Skinner in the United States. Set against the background of their ideological assumptions, both the experiments of Pavlov and Skinner's Beyond Freedom and Dignity present an interesting example of will to power and domination: both claim to have discovered the 'technology of behavior' -- a much-needed device for any oppressive political system. For William Barrett's analysis of this anomaly, see his The Illusion of Technique: A Search for Meaning in a Technological Civilization, (New York: Anchor Books, 1979), pp. xi-xv.

[^31] The tragic consequences of Promethean humanism have been noticed by many philosophers of the West as well as the East. Nasr has written on the subject extensively, employing a rigorously critical language. Among others, Heidegger, in his celebrated attack on humanism in Letter on Humanism, offers a scathing criticism of Western humanism which has turned man, according to him, into a slave of his own inventions.

[^32] 'The attempt is made to view the world not from a place within it, or from the vantage point of a special kind of life or awareness, but from nowhere in particular and no form of life in particular at all.' Thomas Nagel, Mortal Questions, (Cambridge, 1979), p. [^208]:

[^33] The idea of the unity of the intellect and the intelligible is one of the fundamental teachings of traditional philosophy and plays an important role in Nasr's writings on knowledge. For Nasr's treatment of the subject, see the first chapter of Knowledge and the Sacred, pp. 1-[^64]: In the De Anima (430a), Aristotle refers to this idea by saying that 'in the case of objects without matter, that which thinks and that which is being thought are the same, for theoretical knowledge and its knowable object are the same.' See De Anima, translated by H. G. Apostle as Aristotle on the Soul (The Peripatetic Press, 1981), p. 51. The main inspiration of Islamic philosopher, however, comes from the Enneads V where Plotinus gives a detailed explanation of the subject. Although Ibn Sina rejects, curiously enough, the unity of the intellect and the intelligible, later mystics and philosophers such as Suhrawardi, Ibn al-Arabi and Sadr al-Din Shirazi have continued to elaborate on the subject. Sadr al-Din Shirazi has even written a treatise called Ittihad al-'aqil wa'l-ma'qul ([On] the Unity of the Intellect and the Intelligible) published in Majmua-yi rasail-i falsafi-i Sadr al-Muta'allihin, ed. by Hamid Naji Isfahani (Tehran: Intisharat-i Hikmet, 1996), pp. 64-103. Some scholars have claimed that the idea of the unity of the intellect and the intelligible can be traced back to various passages in Phedon, Timaeus and the Republic where a 'solidarite d'existence' is established between the Ideas and the soul. For a well-informed essay on this subject see, J. Pepin, 'Elements pour une histoire de la relation entre l'intelligence et l'intelligible chez Plato et dans le neoplatonisme', Revue Philosophique 81, (1956), pp. 39-64. For a recent statement of the problem in a comparative way, see M. Hairi Yazdi, The Principles of Epistemology in Islamic Philosophy: Knowledge by Presence, (Albany, SUNY Press, 1992).

[^34] There is a considerable literature on the consequences of living in a technology-bound society. Among others, one may refer to Philip Sherrard, The Rape of Man and Nature: An Enquiry into the Origins and Consequences of Modern Science, (Golgoonoza Press, 1987); Jacques Ellul, The Technological Society, tr. by John Wilkinson, (New York: Vintage Books, 1964); William Barrett, The Illusion of Technique.

[^35] Nasr has devoted two separate books on the analysis of this crucial subject. See his Man and Nature: The Spiritual Crisis in Modern Man and Religion and the Order of Nature, especially the last chapter. See also A Young Muslim's Guide to the Modern World, pp. 190-192, for the difference between science and technology.

[^36] Religion and the Order of Nature, p. 127ff; and A Young Muslim's Guide to the Modern World, pp. 181-[^2]:

[^37] Darwinism is probably the best example to illustrate this point. Although Nasr gives credit to the scientific evidence against the theory of evolution, his main critique is metaphysical and philosophical throughout. See his Knowledge and the Sacred, chapter [^7]: For a similar line of argument, see Titus Burckhardt, The Mirror of the Intellect: Essays on Traditional Science and Sacred Art, tr. by William Stoddart (Cambridge: Quinta Essentia, 1987), pp. 32-45; and Osman Bakar (ed.), Critiques of the Theory of Evolution (Kuala Lumpur: The Islamic Academy of Science, 1987).