Ibn Khaldun and the Social Sciences: Discourse on the Condition of Im-possibility

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Javad Tabatabai Philip Grant

Ibn Khaldun and the Social Sciences

Discourse on the Condition of Im-possibility

Javad Tabatabai, Philip Grant, Milad Odabaei

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English

Polity Press
17 February 2025

Sociology & anthropology

Series: Critical South

Arabic and European studies of Ibn Khaldun, the great medieval polymath, follow one of two paths. In one direction, scholars interpret his Muqaddimah (‘Prolegomenon’), written in 1377, as the point at which the new social sciences emerged. They identify Ibn Khaldun’s ‘new science of culture’ as sociology or as an ‘Islamic’ alternative to sociology. In the other direction, the interpretation of Khaldunian discourse is confined to the Islamic–Aristotelian paradigm of its time. The epistemological novelty of the Muqaddimah is dismissed and the science of culture is perceived as a minor contribution to the Aristotelian curriculum.

Charting a different path, Javad Tabatabai’s highly original book is an enquiry into the condition of the im-possibility of the social sciences in the Islamic–Aristotelian paradigm. It theorizes the condition of im-possibility of the ‘scientific revolution’ as the ‘epistemic obstacle’ to modernity in Islamic civilization. This theorization revisits Michel Foucault’s discussion of the condition of possibility of the human sciences in light of the history of Christian–Aristotelian thought and the broader French debates about epistemology from Bachelard to Althusser.

Javad Tabatabai offers a critical theory of tradition and modernity in the Middle East, elaborating on a historical situation where social and human sciences emerged by way of colonial and post-colonial translations of discourse from Europe, and in a historical and epistemological break with inherited traditions of knowledge. In this situation, Tabatabai highlights the significance of reactivating Ibn Khaldun’s critical reckoning with the limit of inherited traditions as the political-theological horizon of renewal.

By: Javad Tabatabai
Foreword by: Milad Odabaei
Translated by: Philip Grant
Imprint: Polity Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 28mm
Weight: 522g
ISBN: 9781509551361
ISBN 10: 1509551360
Series: Critical South
Pages: 352
Publication Date: 17 February 2025
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Introduction – Milad Odabaei Preface to the Second Edition Chapter One: Discourse on the Conditions of Im-possibility Chapter Two: Ibn Khaldun and Tradition Chapter Three: The Theological Bases of Ibn Khaldun’s Social Thought Chapter Four: On the ‘Sociology’ of the Philosophers of the Islamic Period Chapter Five: Ibn Khaldun’s Social Theory Chapter Six: The Theoretical Basis of the Social Sciences Chapter Seven: The Theory of Justice in Ibn Khaldun’s Thought Chapter Eight: Ibn Khaldun’s Theory of Luxury Chapter Nine: On Ibn Khaldun’s ‘Economic’ Theory Bibliography Notes Index

Javad Tabatabai was formerly Professor and Vice Dean of the Faculty of Law and Political Science at the University of Tehran.

Reviews for Ibn Khaldun and the Social Sciences: Discourse on the Condition of Im-possibility

""After Kant and Foucault, here is Javad Tabatabai’s version of What is Enlightenment? Tabatabai demonstrates that despite his undeniable genius, Ibn Khaldun, considered the founder of social sciences in the XIVth century, was unable to operate the critical revolution that his vision of science required. More than a book on Iran though, and a reflection on all its epistemological obstacles, Tabatabai's masterpiece offers a profound meditation on the creative resources that secretly hide behind any condition of impossibility."" Catherine Malabou, Professor of Philosophy, Kingston University