Ibn Khaldun on Cyclical History, Rise and Fall of Civilization | Prof. Dr. Recep Şentürk

It is generally believed that sociology originated in Europe in the 19th century and the paternity of the discipline is commonly attributed to the French sociologist August Comte. However, reflections of a sociological nature were observed and found in the work of 14th-century North African historian and philosopher Ibn Khaldun. However, such contribution of Ibn Khaldun is little acknowledged by European scholars in their works. Therefore, this lecture series attempts to examine how Eurocentrism is embedded in the writing of the European scholars and unpacks the contribution of Ibn Khaldun in the growth of Sociology. The perspective of European scholars are mainly Eurocentric and parochial in their accounts on culture, language and other aspects of non-European society. Therefore Ibn Khaldun’s contribution to the field of sociology is largely ignored, though his contributions dealt with society and human character, political organization and government, differences between rural and urban populations, kinship, social solidarity, and the interplay between economic conditions and social organizations. Nevertheless, Ibn Khaldun’s ideas have hugely impressed some of European thinkers in the 19th century prompting them to regard him as the progenitor of sociology, the question remains as to how his ideas and theories have been appropriated by contemporary social scientists in their works.

In this lecture series, Prof. Dr. Recep Şentürk explores various aspects of Ibn Khaldun. Some of the topics he’ll address in this series are: Multiplex ontology, multiplex epistemology, multiplex methodology, multiplex human ontology and action, cyclical history: rise and fall of civilizations, good governance: circle of justice. We hope this series would be an exciting one and will enable us to understand Ibn Khaldun's in a much more wider perspective.


#IbnKhaldun #islam #history