Abram, Marieke – Harvey, Steven – Muehlethaler, Lukas (éd.), The Popularization of Philosophy in Medieval Islam, Judaism, and Christianity
Abram, Marieke – Harvey, Steven – Muehlethaler, Lukas (éd.), The Popularization of Philosophy in Medieval Islam, Judaism, and Christianity (Philosophy in the Abrahamic Traditions of the Middle Ages 3), Turnhout, Brepols, 2022, 465 p.
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1This volume, the third of the Brepols’ new series ‘Philosophy in the Abrahamic Traditions of the Middle Ages’, raises very relevant questions: what is the place of philosophy? Are the questions and problems posed by philosophy reserved for an elite or are they of general interest? In the introduction, M. Abram and S. Harvey ask themselves what happens when the truth comes to the agora, to the public square. Are people interested in knowing the truth? Do they understand it? Does truth generate any debate among ordinary people? Do people understand philosophical arguments? Does philosophy confuse them? Does it distress them? Many other questions could be asked: should ordinary people be interested in the truth? Why would they have to, if sometimes it is easier not to ask too many questions and focus on the immediacy of day-to-day life? In any case, what is the truth? Why should ordinary people care about truth? Why do philosophers think that they are the ones who can know the truth?
2As the title indicates, this volume deals with the popularization of medieval philosophy in the three Abrahamic traditions. As Abram and Harvey point out in the introduction, at least in the Middle Ages, the initiator of the elitist vision according to which philosophy is for a few and not for the masses, was Alfarabi. Indeed, for him, philosophy is for a minority. However, Alfarabi and later philosophers within the three Abrahamic traditions were concerned about how to present philosophy to the multitude. The volume consists of seven parts that bring together contributions from colleagues who are highly renowned in their areas of study. While the first and seventh parts serve as an introduction to the subject and concluding reflections, respectively, the other five parts deal with the popularization of philosophy through different means: via encyclopedias of philosophy and science (part II), books of instruction (part III), mystical literature (part IV), scriptural exegesis and sermons (part V), poetry (part VI). While this volume is thoroughly enjoyable to read, due to space limitations, instead of commenting on each chapter, I will limit myself to providing a general approach pointing out in some cases what I consider interesting aspects of the discussion.
3In the first part, which serves as an introduction to the subject, G. Endress refers to philosophy as literature and shows how genres such as satire, and Arabic prose and poetry served to convey philosophical teachings. Then, C. H. Manekin and J. Marenbon each discuss in their contribution whether, in fact, in medieval Judaism and the Latin West, respectively, there was a popularization of philosophy. I want to refer particularly to a rather curious case mentioned by G. Endress in his opening chapter. That is the case of the Muslim satirist al-Jahiz. I completely agree with Endress in his appreciation that al-Jahiz’s sharp criticism of the intellectual discourse of theologians and philosophers and his keen observation of the Abbasid urban society should be considered as popular philosophy. I have argued elsewhere that al-Jahiz uses rhetorical resources to create a humorous theological style that helps to moralize and at the same time to transmit theological and philosophical positions.
4The second part is made up of contributions by S. Harvey, E. Wakelnig, R. Fontaine, and G. Guldentops. Harvey’s opening chapter works as an introduction to the section. Harvey explains that the three authors of this part deal with different kinds of encyclopedias and compendia. The three of them are hesitant about the popular character of those texts because, although their audience was students and educated readers, encyclopedias and compendia were not intended for the masses. The third part is introduced by S. Stroumsa and contains articles by A. Elihayu, O. Elior, and K. Krause. As Stroumsa observes, the three chapters of this part reveal, through books of instruction, manuals, or short independent philosophical treatises, what I would call an ‘attempt’ to popularize metaphysics, logic and basic physics, and natural science. The fourth part, introduced by Y. Schwarz, deals with mystical literature from Muslim, Jewish, and Christian perspectives. Schwarz proposes to conceive ‘mystical’ as a hybrid, anarchic, cross-bordering phenomenon somehow open to an audience other than the scholarly one. This part includes works by S. Maghsoudlou, T. Werthmann, and M. Abram.
5The fifth part is presented by H. Kreisel and brings up three contributions on scriptural exegesis and sermons by L. Muehlethaler, C. M. Neria, and L. Wegener. Given my area of expertise (Islamic philosophy), I want to comment on L. Muehlethaler’s chapter on Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī’s Qur’ān Commentary and the popularization of philosophy. Muehlethaler argues that an important contribution to the popularization of philosophy was the genre known as tafsīr or Qur’ānic commentary. Indeed, this genre aims to explain the Qur’ān by clarifying the teachings contained in the Book. In my view, from the content of this chapter, it can be discussed whether any difference could be established between the tafsir and ta’wil, that is, the commentary and the interpretation. The former would be a popular genre, but the latter, as argued, for example, by Averroes, would be an interpretative genre that should indeed be reserved for philosophers.
6The sixth part, introduced by A. Eusterschulte, contains the contributions of M. A. Mujeeb Khan, Y. Halper, and M. de Meo-Ehlert. This part shows how poetry, as a ‘multifaceted medium’ (to use Eusterschulte’s words) was an ideal medium to thematize philosophical problems for a wider audience.
7Finally, the seventh part, made up of contributions by F. Griffel, S. Sadik, W. Z. Harvey, P. Adamson, and Loris Sturlese, provides several interesting concluding reflections. I have found particularly stimulating the chapter by W. Z. Harvey with his challenging statement that popular philosophy, that is, people conversing with each other in the agora, is the true philosopher. Adamson’s chapter is a welcome addition to the volume because he is a living example of a scholar who has popularized philosophy through his famous podcast The History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps. In my view, he hits the mark: the popularization of philosophy ‘should reflect developments in specialist scholarship’ (p. 417).
8In sum, this volume addresses a very complex problem within the three Abrahamic traditions: what exactly should be popularized, philosophy or the truth? Abram’s and Harvey’s introduction raises this very question and warns that each of the chapters poses the question from different perspectives: ‘Some chapters understood as making philosophy available to a larger or broader audience, others to people untrained in philosophy or to those who have not been exposed to it, others to those who are not interested in it, etc.’ (p. 18). No doubt, this is a highly stimulating book.
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Luis Xavier López-Farjeat, « Abram, Marieke – Harvey, Steven – Muehlethaler, Lukas (éd.), The Popularization of Philosophy in Medieval Islam, Judaism, and Christianity », Revue des sciences religieuses, 99/1-2 | 2025, 266-268.
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Luis Xavier López-Farjeat, « Abram, Marieke – Harvey, Steven – Muehlethaler, Lukas (éd.), The Popularization of Philosophy in Medieval Islam, Judaism, and Christianity », Revue des sciences religieuses [En ligne], 99/1-2 | 2025, mis en ligne le 25 juin 2025, consulté le 09 décembre 2025. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/rsr/16182 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/1492b
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