On the Affective Moods of Being

In this book, Philip Valentini places Sufi Ibrahim Niasse (1900-1975) and the German philosopher Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) in dialogue as they meditate primarily on Being through the affects of human experience. The fundamental difference between the two relies on their understanding of time, as Heidegger understands Death as the end of existence whilst Niasse understands existence to be steered towards the apocatastasis. However, Valentini delves deeper into the ways in which both their investigations of Being stem from the affects that humans experience, and compares Niasse's and Heidegger's treatment of similar affects such as dismay, vengeance, being with someone other than oneself, and the passing of slow and long time. Whilst previous studies on the relations between Heidegger and the Islamicate worlds have done so from a historical perspective or from a way of thinking that wildly hybridizes both philosophies, Valentini particularly highlights their superficial analogies and differences. Each chapter begins with Niasse's Qur'anic commentary, in which each prophet is associated with a singular affective mood that Niasse uncovers, then turning to Heidegger for his treatment of this same affect in its relation to Being/Beying. Through an insightful and interesting comparison of modern Sufi and Heideggerian thought, Valentini explores how these two figures observe affects according to two guiding ideas that preside over all their meditations on Being. For Niasse, it is the Muhammadan Form that transcends the opposition between Being and Non-Being. For the Heidegger of the Kehre, it is the Void/Emptiness in which men find the philosophical disposition to make the earth habitable. Valentini overall leads us to ponder the question, what should be the guiding idea of our affects?