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The West and Islam: Religion and Political Thought in World History
Author(s): Antony Black (Author)
- Publisher: OUP Oxford
- Publication Date: 15 Mar. 2008
- Language: English
- Print length: 202 pages
- ISBN-10: 0199533202
- ISBN-13: 9780199533206
Book Description
This comparative history of political thought examines what the Western and Islamic approaches to politics had in common and where they diverged. The book considers how various ancient and medieval thought-patterns did or did not lead to modern developments; and how sacred monarchy, the legitimacy of the state, and the role of the people were looked upon in each culture. The author focuses on the period from the rise of Islam to the European Reformation, but his analysis extends to the main genres of political thought up to the present. He argues that until the mid-eleventh century, Europe, Islam, and the Byzantine world had more in common than is commonly thought. What made the West different was the papal revolution of the late eleventh century, Europe's twelfth-century 'renaissance', and the gradual secularization of political thought which followed. At the same time, Islam, after an early blossoming, interpreted its own revelation more and more narrowly. This volume throws light on why the West and Islam each developed their own particular kind of approach to government, politics and the state, and on why these are so different.
Editorial Reviews
Review
An unprecedented study of what unites and divides Western and Islamic political thought
About the Author
Antony Black is Professor Emeritus in the History of Political Thought, School of Humanities, University of Dundee. He was Lecturer in Politics at University of Dundee from 1963 until retirement in 2000. 1975-76 Visiting Associate Professor, School of Government and Public Administration, The American University, Washington DC., USA. 1980-81 Senior Research Fellow, Nuffield Foundation. March-April 1993 Visiting Professor, Faculty of Jurisprudence, University of Trento, Italy. 1993-7. Head of Dept. of Politics 1995-9 Book Review Editor of Early Modern History: Contacts, Contrasts and Comparisons (Brill).
