Teaching Western Philosophy to Students of Islamic Studies

Introduction

For students of Islamic studies who are not themselves situated in the West, studying Western philosophy can be an access route to understanding a dominant (if not dominating) world civilisation which, among other things, has a significant impact on contemporary Muslim culture and society. More specifically, students of Islamic philosophy may well be intrigued to learn how the philosophy of ancient Greece developed in a different part of the world. For these reasons a review of books for teaching an introductory course of Western philosophy seems a worthwhile exercise. This is especially because there is a veritable wealth of such texts.

This literature review attempts to get some grip on the books available through a number of restrictions. Firstly, I will be considering only titles currently available from the three major publishers of Western philosophy in English: Oxford University Press, Routledge, and Wiley-Blackwell. Secondly, I will be considering only titles for teaching general philosophy rather than specific branches of philosophy such as epistemology, metaphysics, and philosophy of religion. Some general philosophy titles do cover multiple branches of philosophy but do so in less depth than a work dedicated to only one branch of philosophy. Also, by restricting myself to course texts I will be foregoing review of reference works such as comprehensive histories, encyclopaedias, and dictionaries which might nevertheless be useful for a student.¹ Thirdly, and finally, I presume that Islamic studies students coming to Western philosophy for the first time desire an authentic taste of the tradition. I therefore focus on titles which help ground Islamic studies students directly in the Western philosophical tradition as commonly taught in Western universities. This preference for academic philosophy is not intended to reduce the value of texts which encourage students to philosophise on the 'big questions' (e.g. Washburn 2007), to develop philosophical skills (e.g. Creel 2001; Morton 2003; Teichman & Evans 1999), or which seek to introduce Western philosophy through, say, the medium of popular culture (e.g. Cogburn & Silcox 2009; Falzon 2007; Fumerton & Jeske 2009; Irwin & Kyle Johnson 2010).

When planning a philosophy course at least a couple of key decisions need to be made regarding the structure of the course. Firstly, should the course focus on specific philosophers or specific topics? Secondly, which of the four main periods of Western philosophy (ancient, medieval, modern, contemporary) should the course cover? One thing that is usually a given in philosophy courses is the need to read primary works of philosophy. This requirement in turn gives rise to a decision about which works should be read and, if they are not read in their entirety, which parts of them should be read. This review, therefore, does cover anthologies which seek to make the selection of philosophical works easier but it also covers textbooks which seek to support the reading of philosophical works. Although this support is provided by the teacher, a textbook offers the opportunity for a student to learn the course material at her/his own pace.

As we will see, even philosophy textbooks can be demanding to read, let alone those works of philosophy which are considered essential reading. For this reason this review first considers titles which may be of use to prepare a student for university-level texts.

Preparatory Texts

Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction (Craig 2002) is a good place to start for a student who has not read philosophy before. The main themes of philosophy are introduced along with some of its history and some further reading. Craig does not oversimplify his subject matter. Although short, this introduction is not simple and the need for some mental exertion on the part of the reader serves as good preparation for the type of challenges further study will bring. Craig writes in the voice of a narrator guiding his reader through the subject, starting with Plato's Crito and Hume's Of Miracles and a Buddhist story on self-identity. Next there is discussion of some topics in philosophy, such as 'evidence and rationality' and 'ethical consequentialism'. There is further opportunity to become familiar with primary sources through the...