The Idea
The text presents modernity as an intellectual possibility, not as an exclusive Western possession or a chronological outcome tied to Europe alone. In this sense, some of its features can appear in an old Arab-Islamic heritage when we find a humanist impulse and a broader rational outlook. The point here is not that the past was modern, but that some of its elements allow for a new reading of modernity.
Concise Formulation
Arkoun: sees modernity as: not monopolized by the West or by chronological contemporaneity
Its Place in the Book’s Argument
This claim serves the book’s argument by rejecting the simplistic division between a closed tradition and an imported modernity. The author tries to show that the history of Islamic thought contains possibilities that were not properly understood or were marginalized. Bringing al-Tawhidi and al-Jahiz into this context supports the idea that critique begins with rereading what is inside, not by copying what is outside.
Why It Matters
This idea is important because it prevents the reader from understanding Arkoun as someone who places the West on one side and the East on the other in an absolute way. In this passage, he is searching for areas of contact within Islamic intellectual history itself. This helps us understand his project as a synthetic reading that does not stop at comparing two civilizations.
Reading Questions
- Does saying that modernity is not monopolized by the West mean that Islamic tradition was already modern?
- How does the text use names such as al-Tawhidi and al-Jahiz to expand the meaning of modernity?
Degree of Documentation
High: the claim appears in a clear location in the book’s material.