Selami Varlik is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Istanbul 29 Mayis University, Türkiye.

• IntroductionPart I: Necessity and Difficulties of AppropriationA. Need for a Hermeneutical Approach1. The Problem of Appropriation of Islamic Philosophy2. Need for a Hermeneutics of AppropriationB. Difficulties in the Appropriation Process1. The Appropriation Process in Ricoeur2. The Religious ObstaclesPart II: A Double Solution in Form and ContentA. Possibility of a Common Language1. Proximity in Religious Belonging2. Conceptual Distanciation in CommonB. Creation Ex Nihilo as a Shared Notion1. Creation in Ricoeur2. Creation in AvicennaPart III: Appropriation as Innovation and TransformationA. Creation and Semantic Innovation1. Creation and Innovation in Avicenna2. Innovation and Appropriation of AvicennaB. Creation and Transformation of the Subject1. Concomitance of the Cause and Ontological Indigence2. Causality Against the Domination of the SubjectConclusionBibliographyIndex

In this deep and fascinating study of the hermeneutic interrelations between medieval Muslim philosophy and modern European philosophy, Varlik pays tribute to Ricoeur’s ability to abandon chronology and culture in an unceasing quest for the polytonal nature of ancient, modern and Eastern thought. Here Varlik sees parallels with Avicenna’s philosophical skill in appropriating Greek wisdom into Islamic thought and the heuristic tensions that arise through such comparisons. Creating a rich resonance between these philosophical and religious traditions, Varlik also sees analogous tensions between, on the one hand, our efforts to derive hermeneutical appropriations across and between philosophies and on the other, our struggles to live with contradictory aspects of human self-hood, proposing that we address the tensions that inevitably arise from both philosophical and individual attempts to appropriate difference and manage the consequent uncertainties. In addition, by exploring the essence/ existence duality inherent in these and many other thinkers’ works, Varlik shows his own philosophical prowess and contributes significantly to the hermeneutical field of modern appropriative thought.

Selami Varlik is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Istanbul 29 Mayis University, Türkiye.

• IntroductionPart I: Necessity and Difficulties of AppropriationA. Need for a Hermeneutical Approach1. The Problem of Appropriation of Islamic Philosophy2. Need for a Hermeneutics of AppropriationB. Difficulties in the Appropriation Process1. The Appropriation Process in Ricoeur2. The Religious ObstaclesPart II: A Double Solution in Form and ContentA. Possibility of a Common Language1. Proximity in Religious Belonging2. Conceptual Distanciation in CommonB. Creation Ex Nihilo as a Shared Notion1. Creation in Ricoeur2. Creation in AvicennaPart III: Appropriation as Innovation and TransformationA. Creation and Semantic Innovation1. Creation and Innovation in Avicenna2. Innovation and Appropriation of AvicennaB. Creation and Transformation of the Subject1. Concomitance of the Cause and Ontological Indigence2. Causality Against the Domination of the SubjectConclusionBibliographyIndex

In this deep and fascinating study of the hermeneutic interrelations between medieval Muslim philosophy and modern European philosophy, Varlik pays tribute to Ricoeur’s ability to abandon chronology and culture in an unceasing quest for the polytonal nature of ancient, modern and Eastern thought. Here Varlik sees parallels with Avicenna’s philosophical skill in appropriating Greek wisdom into Islamic thought and the heuristic tensions that arise through such comparisons. Creating a rich resonance between these philosophical and religious traditions, Varlik also sees analogous tensions between, on the one hand, our efforts to derive hermeneutical appropriations across and between philosophies and on the other, our struggles to live with contradictory aspects of human self-hood, proposing that we address the tensions that inevitably arise from both philosophical and individual attempts to appropriate difference and manage the consequent uncertainties. In addition, by exploring the essence/ existence duality inherent in these and many other thinkers’ works, Varlik shows his own philosophical prowess and contributes significantly to the hermeneutical field of modern appropriative thought.

Selami Varlik is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Istanbul 29 Mayis University, Türkiye.

• IntroductionPart I: Necessity and Difficulties of AppropriationA. Need for a Hermeneutical Approach1. The Problem of Appropriation of Islamic Philosophy2. Need for a Hermeneutics of AppropriationB. Difficulties in the Appropriation Process1. The Appropriation Process in Ricoeur2. The Religious ObstaclesPart II: A Double Solution in Form and ContentA. Possibility of a Common Language1. Proximity in Religious Belonging2. Conceptual Distanciation in CommonB. Creation Ex Nihilo as a Shared Notion1. Creation in Ricoeur2. Creation in AvicennaPart III: Appropriation as Innovation and TransformationA. Creation and Semantic Innovation1. Creation and Innovation in Avicenna2. Innovation and Appropriation of AvicennaB. Creation and Transformation of the Subject1. Concomitance of the Cause and Ontological Indigence2. Causality Against the Domination of the SubjectConclusionBibliographyIndex

In this deep and fascinating study of the hermeneutic interrelations between medieval Muslim philosophy and modern European philosophy, Varlik pays tribute to Ricoeur’s ability to abandon chronology and culture in an unceasing quest for the polytonal nature of ancient, modern and Eastern thought. Here Varlik sees parallels with Avicenna’s philosophical skill in appropriating Greek wisdom into Islamic thought and the heuristic tensions that arise through such comparisons. Creating a rich resonance between these philosophical and religious traditions, Varlik also sees analogous tensions between, on the one hand, our efforts to derive hermeneutical appropriations across and between philosophies and on the other, our struggles to live with contradictory aspects of human self-hood, proposing that we address the tensions that inevitably arise from both philosophical and individual attempts to appropriate difference and manage the consequent uncertainties. In addition, by exploring the essence/ existence duality inherent in these and many other thinkers’ works, Varlik shows his own philosophical prowess and contributes significantly to the hermeneutical field of modern appropriative thought.