İLEM Istanbul Talks series continues with a talk by Samir Mahmoud on "Introduction to Islamic Aesthetics: A Few Methodological & Theoretical Issues" with moderation by Emin Lelic on İLEM TV.

This talk will start by interrogating the term 'aesthetics' and its application to the Islamic context illustrating the issues involved. Then it will move on to a consideration of a few pivotal ideas and examples from Islamic Civilization to answer foundational questions, such as: What is ‘Islamic Aesthetics’? And what is particularly ‘Islamic’ about it?

The talk will also address some methodological issues concerning the scholarly investigation into Islamic aesthetics by bearing in mind that classical Islamic thought invested beauty with diverse meanings, coached in several discourses, which led to the development of various aesthetic sensibilities. It will look at how classical Islamic intellectual tradition not only managed to reconcile the aesthetic enjoyment of beauty with the distrust of sensuous attraction, but ultimately also found a significant place for its pursuit in spiritual life.

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