Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Princeton University Press (2015), Edition: Abridged, 512 pages
Description
The Muqaddimah, often translated as "Introduction" or "Prolegomenon," is the most important Islamic history of the premodern world. Written by the great fourteenth-century Arab scholar Ibn Khaldûn (d. 1406), this monumental work laid down the foundations of several fields of knowledge, including philosophy of history, sociology, ethnography, and economics. The first complete English translation, by the eminent Islamicist and interpreter of Arabic literature Franz Rosenthal, was published in three volumes in 1958 as part of the Bollingen Series and received immediate acclaim in America and abroad. A one-volume abridged version of Rosenthal's masterful translation was first published in 1969. This new edition of the abridged version, with the addition of a key section of Rosenthal's own introduction to the three-volume edition, and with a new introduction by Bruce B. Lawrence, will reintroduce this seminal work to twenty-first-century students and scholars of Islam and of medieval and ancient history.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member ajdeus
The Muqaddimah is a pleasurable read for experts with many surprises (in the background/sidelines). Rosenthal's bracket fillers are sometimes annoying and misleading. Khaldun finished the work in 1377, which is a pivotal year in both, the Renaissance and also the decline of Islam civilization into
Khaldun's social economic system is based on group feeling (singular nationalism), social cooperation (socialism) and natural cycles of excessive wealth that corrupt civilizations. He recognizes urbanization as a key factor to prosperity. As a stark reminder to modernity, excess leads to living above means, according to Khaldun, and to the corruption of character. This, he argues, leads to the ruin of civilizations. Hence, his conclusion is that religion - his Sufi version of religion - is the only way to keep a civilization sane and modest. It is an important book that builds a bridge to some understanding of modern Muslim thought. Many of Khaldun's offerings are found in Gaddafi's Green book in a slightly modified version.
The historical narrative that is based on traditions (that were invented after the fact) are useless for the student of history. For more information about how the traditions and the main Arab sects fit into history, see The Great Leap-Fraud.
Show More
intellectual and economic poverty. It is written at a time where much of Islam's high culture had already been lost. The Muqaddimah is full of superstitions that replaced earlier Arab knowledge.Khaldun's social economic system is based on group feeling (singular nationalism), social cooperation (socialism) and natural cycles of excessive wealth that corrupt civilizations. He recognizes urbanization as a key factor to prosperity. As a stark reminder to modernity, excess leads to living above means, according to Khaldun, and to the corruption of character. This, he argues, leads to the ruin of civilizations. Hence, his conclusion is that religion - his Sufi version of religion - is the only way to keep a civilization sane and modest. It is an important book that builds a bridge to some understanding of modern Muslim thought. Many of Khaldun's offerings are found in Gaddafi's Green book in a slightly modified version.
The historical narrative that is based on traditions (that were invented after the fact) are useless for the student of history. For more information about how the traditions and the main Arab sects fit into history, see The Great Leap-Fraud.
Show Less
LibraryThing member sashame
Criminally ignored in history of philosophy/intellectual history, since it shockingly illustrates the different ways European & Arabic philosophy were working. This work, written in the 1300s, predates & anticipates a fantastic number of "unique" and "milestone" breakthroughs in European
Limits of induction (Hume), compromise between rationalism & empiricism (Kant), inaccessibility of the noumenal world (also Kant), Labor theory of value (Smith/Marx), necessity of interpretation due to cultural/linguistic relativity (Vico/Herder), Truth as intellectual consensus conforming to empirical observation (Popper), tension between truth in text and truth in speech (Derrida), language influences thought (Whorf), the power necessarily inherent in law (Weber/Foucault)
and probably some others as well
Show More
philosophy, including:Limits of induction (Hume), compromise between rationalism & empiricism (Kant), inaccessibility of the noumenal world (also Kant), Labor theory of value (Smith/Marx), necessity of interpretation due to cultural/linguistic relativity (Vico/Herder), Truth as intellectual consensus conforming to empirical observation (Popper), tension between truth in text and truth in speech (Derrida), language influences thought (Whorf), the power necessarily inherent in law (Weber/Foucault)
and probably some others as well
Show Less
LibraryThing member cdp02005
The Muqaddimah: An Introduction to History (Bollingen Series (General)) by Ibn Khaldun (2004)
LibraryThing member cdp02005
The Muqaddimah: An Introduction to History (Bollingen Series (General)) by Ibn Khaldun (2004)
LibraryThing member wellreadcatlady
I read this for Mark Zuckerberg’s book club, A Year Of Books.
I did not read The Muqaddimah fully, the first 100 pages I read, but after that I just skimmed. This book isn’t for me, I don’t care for books about religion or philosophy to this extent. I understand the significance of The
I did not read The Muqaddimah fully, the first 100 pages I read, but after that I just skimmed. This book isn’t for me, I don’t care for books about religion or philosophy to this extent. I understand the significance of The
Show More
Muqaddimah, which is why I tried to read it, it laid down the ground work for many areas of study, but I just couldn’t get into it, especially know that so much of it was already discredited. People who like philosophy and reading historical philosophy will love this, I am just not that person. Show Less
LibraryThing member RajivC
There are books that are good, and there are books that are magnificent. This book by Ibn Khaldun falls into the latter category. The editing and translation are superb.
After reading this abridged version, I decided that in the near future I will read the entire text.
Ibn Khaldun's thinking was far
This edition focuses on the nature of civilization and is - as per the subtitle - an introduction to history.
The book does not focus on kings and queens, but not on how kingdoms and civilization developed in his part of the world. When you read this book, you get an excellent understanding of life in the Middle East at that time, what forces were at play and how the Bedouin culture interacted with the more settled urban culture.
Read this book. You will want more.
After reading this abridged version, I decided that in the near future I will read the entire text.
Ibn Khaldun's thinking was far
Show More
ahead of his time and is advanced even in our modern age. He was a true intellectual, whose vision went wide. This edition focuses on the nature of civilization and is - as per the subtitle - an introduction to history.
The book does not focus on kings and queens, but not on how kingdoms and civilization developed in his part of the world. When you read this book, you get an excellent understanding of life in the Middle East at that time, what forces were at play and how the Bedouin culture interacted with the more settled urban culture.
Read this book. You will want more.
Show Less
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
8.6 inches
ISBN
0691166285 / 9780691166285
UPC
783324939712