Self-Criticism After the Defeat

Born in Damascus (1934 - 11 December, 2016), Sadik al-Azm was Professor Emeritus of Modern European Philosophy at the University of Damascus in Syria until 2007 and a recipient of the Erasmus Prize. He was Visiting Professor in the department of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University until 2008. He earned his PhD (1961) from Yale University, majoring in Modern European Philosophy. Al-Azm was tried in Beirut and dismissed from his teaching post at the American University of Beirut in 1970 in response to his writings. Al-Azm has left a legacy of piercing intellectual examination of the social, religious, cultural, and political bases of modern Arab thought. Many of his works are still banned in the Arab world.

'A unique book ... Al-Azm sought to strip Arab thought of its belief in fate and folk tales and superstition - He told his people the sort of truths that outsiders are too embarrassed to tell - even when they were themselves able to see these truths.' Fouad Ajami; 'A groundbreaking book' Robert Worth, New York Times