Dr.
Nassif Nassar
Dr. Nassif Nassar (b. 1940) is a Lebanese
thinker and university professor known for his attempts to theorize the
achievement of philosophical independence for contemporary Arab thought in the
national sense, and for his attempts to theorize the relationship between
philosophy and ideology and the concepts of authority, freedom, nation, and
historical presence.
His life
Dr. Nassar was born in the town of Nabay,
in the northern Metn region, in 1940. After receiving a PhD in philosophy from
the Sorbonne in 1967 for
his thesis "Realistic Thought in Ibn Khaldun," he taught at the
Lebanese University from 1967 to 2005. He was appointed Dean of the Faculty of
Arts and Humanities and Dean of the Institute of Social Sciences at the
Lebanese University. He co-founded and directed the Arab Philosophical Society
(based in Amman) in 1987, serving as Vice President. He received the Sultan Bin
Ali Al Owais Cultural Foundation Award for Humanities in 1999 and the Dr. Munif
Al Razzaz Award for Studies and Thought, awarded by the Jordanian Writers
Association in 1995.
His philosophical project
In an interview with the Lebanese newspaper
Al-Akhbar (2011), Nassar says,
I have three books that express my
philosophy. "The Path of Philosophical Independence" is a book I
wrote after my first experiences in research and writing in the 1970s. It is a
methodological book, in which I define the concepts and methods that Arab
philosophers should adopt and follow in order to emerge from the history of
philosophy and become philosophers according to the requirements of Arab cultural
specificity. It is worth noting that philosophy is universal in nature, but
operates within the framework of cultural specificities. It advances on the
level of the dialectic between universality and particularity: the
particularity of the situation and the universality of the subject. Many people
who know me associate my name with that book because, without any pretense, it
is a landmark in contemporary Arab philosophy and culture. The French Universal
Philosophical Encyclopedia, published by PUF , devoted two
columns to it in the early 1990s. After that, I worked on developing a
methodology, compiling diverse and comprehensive philosophical works that were
published successively after that date, the most important of which is
"The Logic of Power," in which I present a comprehensive theory on
the subject of power, a central theme in my writings. I believe that, as one
well-informed researcher put it, it is unprecedented research. I then wrote an
entire book on freedom, which, in my view, is a philosophical concept
intertwined with the concept of power. My book, "The Door to
Freedom," does not delve into the details of field-based freedoms; rather,
it is based on defending the principle of freedom and the primacy of freedom in
human existence. Subsequently, my research led me to delve deeper into the
subject of historical existence, to which I devoted an entire book entitled
"The Self and Presence."
Intellectual
roots
The starting point of Nassif Nassar's
thought is a social one, answering the question of what creates a unified Arab
society. This was a natural result of the strong influence of sectarianism in
his own society, Lebanon. Al-Sayed Naffady explains this as follows:
The most important thing that distinguishes
Nassar's contributions is that they came as a result of his concerns about the
nation's problems, especially the sectarian problem in Lebanon, and the role
played by the conflicting and warring ideologies in deepening this problem and
bringing it to a dead end, the road to civil war... Nassar says in this regard:
"The first problem that circumstances led me to confront was the problem
of sectarianism, and it became clear to me... that it is so deep and
comprehensive... that it is necessary to enter from it into the study of the
historical and civilizational stage that is waiting to produce for it an
authentic historical philosophy." (Nassif Nassar and Ideology: Scientific or
Salafist, Al-Sayyid Naffady, p. 306).
Because in our current era, society is
unified within the framework of what we call the "nation-state," the
problem of the state becomes the expression of this starting point. And because
Arab societies, as Nassar sees it, have not yet transitioned to a state of
modernity, and religion plays a central role in them, Ibn Khaldun's thought was
the best point of support. This is clearly evident in Nassar's
introduction to the Arabic edition of his treatise "Realistic Thought in
Ibn Khaldun," where he says,
In a world where historical awareness is
undergoing an extremely difficult and complex phase, and where the imperatives
of defining identity and renewal require long and arduous research—namely, in
the contemporary Arab world—Ibn Khaldun's thought cannot be merely a historical
value, even if it is a glorious and abundant
source of benefit. In such a world, it is the most appropriate subject for
accelerating the process of self-discovery and the starting point from which to
forge a new historical awareness.
This means that the value of the
"Introduction" does not extend beyond its narrow content alone, but
rather, more specifically, it directly concerns the thinker in the Arab world
today. Indeed, this world, which is emerging to become fully aware of itself, feels
a dire need to return to its origins, to its life-giving springs. ... The
position that the authentic thinker should take is one of confronting the
problem as it presents itself in his historically specific situation, and of
sincerely striving to provide the appropriate means for the emergence and
rebirth of historical awareness...
More specifically, Nassar adds,
The general orbit of Ibn Khaldun's work is
that of history as reality and as knowledge. The central element in this orbit
is the state as a social phenomenon par excellence. Indeed, history and the
state are the two fundamental problems facing the Arab world today. The astute
observer of the socio-political movements contending within it will readily
realize that the lack of a general, clearly formulated and accepted theory of
the state and the citizen lies at the root of many behaviors characterized by
impulsiveness and vulnerability, emanating from emotion more than reason. Ibn
Khaldun's work encompasses a theory of the state and a conception of history.
From this perspective, it is the work that the committed thinker should
question before any other....
The justifications for
relying on Ibn Khaldun’s thought are:
There are good reasons to believe that the
socio-economic, socio-political, and socio-cultural development of the Arab
world is hampered by material and intellectual structures that have not
fundamentally changed since the Middle Ages. Ibn Khaldun's thought is therefore
of direct interest to the Arab thinker of today, insofar as it corresponds to a
historical social reality that remains present. From this perspective, it
provides information about the reality in which he lives, while simultaneously
grounding his thinking in history and guiding him on what he must do. As a
sociological thought, it provides the social researcher with a means of
approaching Arab societies that is no less useful than, if not superior to,
many of the methods and approaches established for studying other societies. As
a sociological thought about a world completely dominated by religion, it
represents a phase partially freed from the grip of that religion, and thus
opens the door to a thought more aware of its own capabilities and functions.
On the other hand, as the contemporary Arab
world is ridding itself of outdated structures, the Muqaddimah invites thinkers
to supplement their knowledge by reading Capital. It also warns against the
delusions of superficial borrowing and the dangers of intellectual alienation.
If Ibn Khaldun's world exists alongside Marx's, this means that neither
possesses the answers to the questions facing present generations in Arab
countries. The appropriate answer to these questions can only be provided
through authentic research that absorbs the spirit and content of The Republic,
The Muqaddimah, Capital, and other sources, and addresses the fundamental
aspects of human existence: personal, collective, and historical. (Introduction
- Realistic Thought in Ibn Khaldun)
Motives
for the project
The starting point of Nassar's thought, the
thought of Ibn Khaldun, has two requirements: the first subjective and the
second objective. The subjective requirement is that our contemporary thought
be consistent with Ibn Khaldun's thought (which deals with societies with a
similar mental structure). This makes relying on any other, different thought
impossible (leading to inconsistency). The objective requirement is that the
issues being addressed be those of our contemporary reality (the current state
of civilization, in Nassar's terms). Beyond this, intellectual alienation
ensues. Together, these two requirements render reliance on any other thought
that does not fulfill these two requirements unproductive. Therefore, not
relying on any other thought that does not originate from the self and does not
address the subjective reality of the self is a condition for the success of
Nassar's intellectual project. This is what Nassar calls "philosophical
independence" that is, Arab philosophical independence.
In his review of Nassar’s thought, Muhammad Nur al-Din Affaya
explains the central role of this idea in Nassar as follows:
Nassif Nassar, since his book "The
Path of Philosophical Independence," seems keen on what he calls "the
act of philosophizing" or "awareness of the role of philosophical
action," and on searching for "contemporary Arab philosophical
thought," and working during his "exploratory journeys" and
writing, to carve out a style, formulate a pattern of questioning, and chart a
path that leads to new Arab philosophical thought. All of this is intended to
create "a vibrant philosophy based on a critical, independent
stance," and "not a conciliatory stance bearing the slogan of
renewal." (Subjectivity and Philosophical Awareness of Existence -
Muhammad Nur al-Din Affaya, p. 94)
Ilham Mansour confirms this central goal as
follows:
But Nassif
Nassar's book on philosophical independence is truly the work in which he seeks
to establish his philosophy, and it constitutes one of the most important axes
in his work. In the book, Nassar seeks to resolve the problem of the
philosopher's relationship - in the contemporary Arab world — with the history
of philosophy. This is what led him to say: " True participation in
philosophy requires independence and creativity." But how do we achieve
independence? To escape dependency, we must first critique Arab thought that
follows one or another of the existing philosophical schools (p.25 ), in order
to arrive at the following conclusion: "A profound understanding of the
problem of civilization in the contemporary Arab world reveals the Arab
person's need for a new philosophy of action" (p. 30 ). Independence means
openness, continuous interaction, and cooperation, but starting from within.
Independence also means accepting all philosophical theories, but after
subjecting them to logical and sociological criticism in order to take from
them what is valid and transform it, through an authentic creative process,
achieved thanks to our awareness of the role of philosophical action in a
specific (cultural and social) reality in place and time ( p. 31). (Where do we
place the words of Nassif Nassar - Ilham Mansour).
Alssayed Naffady also confirms the centrality of this idea to
Nassar and links it to Nassar’s vision of transcending conciliation to achieve
the renaissance of contemporary Arab societies.
Nassar believes that the way out of the
traditionalist position is through critiquing the civilizational conception
that lies in the commitment of philosophers in the contemporary Arab world to
this or that doctrine. In his view, the Renaissance is not merely a revival of
medieval civilization, or a mere extension of superior Western civilization,
but rather the Arab world’s entry into a new historical and civilizational
phase characterized essentially by the complex dialectical interaction taking
place between the world of Arab-Islamic civilization and the world of rational
Western civilization, which gives it a special qualitative character in the
general history of humanity.
For Nassar, an independent stance is the
necessary condition for creative participation in philosophy and for
revolutionary contribution to changing the life of the Arab person from within.
He says in this regard, "The independence we mean is not, of course,
self-absorption, isolation from others, and self-sufficiency. Independence of
this kind in this era amounts to suicide. Rather, what is meant is sound
independence based on openness, constant interaction, and positive
participation, but starting from the self." (Nassif Nassar and Ideology Al- Sayyid Naffady, pp. 307-308).
Establishing the concept of
philosophical independence
The first step toward achieving the desired
goal is to establish philosophical independence as an abstract
"philosophical" concept linked to the contemporary Arab cultural
stage. Adonis Al-Akra summarizes the basic elements proposed by Nassar for this
concept in the following lines:
philosophical
independence
A- Definition:
Philosophical independence, contrary to what this phrase suggests at first
glance, does not mean isolation and seclusion through rejecting the history of
philosophy and constructing an intellectual island unconnected to the general
cultural context. Rather, it means rejecting imitation, copying, submission,
and dependence. This means that independence, as Nassif Nassar sees it, is both
a position and a movement: it is a position towards the other and a movement
between the self and the other. A relationship arises between the two parties
that constitutes an ontological component of the basic components of
independence. This means that if this relationship falls or is nullified, the
self falls into isolation and death. True independence, he says, requires
interaction, and interaction means that the parties concerned maintain their
own entity, but on the basis of the principle of change, which means the
transformation of something into something other than what it is due to its
relationship with what is not... [And] independence requires participation and
creativity, and participation requires independence and creativity.
B- Its
Conditions: In order for philosophical independence to be achieved, it must
meet certain general conditions necessary for a particular historical and
civilizational situation. The first of these conditions is the rejection of
allegiance to any philosophical school, regardless of its status in the history
of human thought. The reason is self-evident: every philosophical school that
has contributed to answering a major philosophical question is the product of a
specific historical and civilizational situation, linked to a specific period,
and answers its questions defined by the circumstances of its emergence. It is
true that philosophy has a comprehensive and universal human aspect, but it
also has a specific aspect linked to the roots of the historical and
civilizational situation that surrounds it. If this specific and essential
aspect of philosophy is ignored, philosophical thought becomes a kind of
artificial and parasitic affiliation, unable to provide real answers to human
questions and societal needs: it "sucks from the tree of the history of
philosophy without being one of its branches."
The
second condition is to identify the main problem and determine how to address
it in relation to other main problems or to the sub-problems that fall beneath
it. It is clear here that there is no single main problem in the new Arab
historical and civilizational situation. However, there are undoubtedly major
problems that precede others in terms of importance, urgency, and necessity
dictated by the given stage. Consequently, the philosopher's role is to guide
him in identifying the main problem from which to build his doctrine. This
condition justifies the first condition and gives it its significance and
importance. There is no justification for refusing to belong to one of the
major philosophical schools unless there are major philosophical problems
specific to a new civilizational situation, requiring answers that are
appropriate to the new historical stage and its diverse people and society.
What is important about this condition is that identifying the main
philosophical problem links philosophical research to living history, thus
providing testimony to it, determining the method of approaching the history of
philosophy in a manner consistent with the need presented and the desired goal.
This contributes to the vitality and dynamism of the history of philosophy.
Here,
the third condition for achieving philosophical independence emerges:
criticism. Nassif Nassar, explaining this condition, says: "Deserving the
name of philosophy gives the philosopher rights, perhaps the most prominent of
which is the right to criticize, a right that many claim to be able to
practice, but without realizing its true requirements. Philosophical criticism,
and especially criticism of philosophical theories, is an art whose doctrine is
cherished and whose paths are difficult. No intellectual endeavor based on
ignorance or superficial knowledge is of respectable value." Criticism, in
this sense, is part of the process of philosophical creativity, especially if
practiced in its three forms: logical criticism, philosophical criticism, and
historical and civilizational criticism.
The
fourth condition is the necessity of absorbing all elements coming from outside
philosophy that are related to the main philosophical problem. The
philosopher's relationship extends beyond the history of philosophy to include
other sources, including other sciences, ideologies, and historical experiences.
The
fifth and final condition is the necessity of constant readiness for
self-reflection and self-criticism, because philosophical truth is inherently
incomplete, but is always on the path to completion thanks to the combined
efforts of studies and research, within a comprehensive intellectual process.
C- Its objectives: The basic and direct
objective of the idea of philosophical independence is for the idea to be a
foundation from which thinkers and "wisdom lovers" in Arab societies
can launch "in order to deepen and expand, to the furthest possible limits
and in all possible directions, man's awareness of his existence and of the
greatest secret which is the creation of the self by itself."
Philosophical independence is a basic condition for every creative
philosophical production that contributes to the construction of the
civilizational renaissance that Arab societies seek to achieve. (Adonis
Al-Akra, Nassif Nassar in the Battle for Philosophical Independence, pp.
531-534).
His approach
If addressing real-life issues (i.e.,
starting from the current state of civilization) is a prerequisite for
achieving the goal of philosophical independence, then determining the method
or approach to linking this reality to the desired philosophical thought
becomes a fundamental methodological step in this project. Because objective
reality can be viewed in multiple ways, which creates multiple ideological
perceptions of this reality, achieving this methodological step was directly
linked to defining the concept of ideology and its relationship to abstract
philosophical thought. This issue occupied a central place in Nassar's project.
This is evident, according to Antoine Seif (Philosophical Independence in
Nassif Nassir), in its adoption as the subject of two books:
" Philosophy in the Battle of Ideology" and "Ideology at
Stake," in addition to the subject occupying a large portion of the book
"The Path to Philosophical Independence."
A- The
relationship with ideology
Muhammad Nur al-Din Affaya reviews Nassar’s
concepts of the relationship between philosophy and ideology as follows:
Nassif Nassar believes that every
ideological system contains a philosophical core, which, to him, is like the
trunk of a tree. Accordingly, philosophy is not a form of ideology, but rather
its deepest theoretical level. This does not mean, for him, that "the fact
that an ideology contains philosophical content makes it a form of philosophy,
since the main characteristics of the philosophical spirit as a theory in
action tend to transform into a way of life, that is, to be embodied in a
specific social-historical practice." Therefore, as long as Arab
ideological thought contains "philosophical content," it requires
engaging with its philosophical depth, especially those texts that Nassif
Nassar considers to be part of the "deepest modern Arab ideological
production," represented by the writings of Nadim Bitar, Hisham Sharabi,
Antoun Saadeh, and Zaki al-Arsuzi.
In doing so, he clearly declares that the
organic connection of ideological thought to the existence and destiny of a
particular group, with all that this connection entails in terms of assessing
its interests and aspirations, requires - that is, this connection - following
a path he calls the ‘biased approach’. Whatever the differences between the
thinker, the ideologue, and the ‘philosopher-thinker’, given that the former
seeks to secure the interest of the group whose life he is concerned with, and
the latter aspires to fathom the truth of human existence, the search for
interest does not conflict with the consideration and pursuit of truth, and the
search for existential truth does not conflict with the consideration and
pursuit of interest. (Subjectivity and the Philosophical Awareness of Existence
- Muhammad Nur al-Din Affaaya - pp. 96-97).
b- Dialectical
realism
The
epistemological stance through which the relationship between philosophy and
ideology is defined is "dialectical realism." Mr. Naffady reviews
Nassar's methodological pluralism (dialectical realism, the integrated systems
approach, and open critical rationalism) and the centrality of the idea of
dialectical realism to him, upon which he relies in establishing the
relationship between philosophy and ideology, as follows:
First: Dialectical realism
Nassar begins his book, "Philosophy in
the Battle of Ideology," by saying: "There is a strong need to
transcend the conflicting, one-sided trends, and to form a new theoretical
trend that grasps the relationship between philosophy and ideology without
tension and with the greatest possible openness to the nature of things and the
nature of the complex relationships between them. He calls this new trend
'dialectical realism.' In dialectical realism, Nassar sees no justification for
reducing philosophy to ideology, nor for a complete separation between them,
just as there is no justification for reducing ideological consciousness to
false consciousness alone, as Marx argued. Rather, looking at ideology from the
perspective of dialectical realism assumes that the essence of ideology is
different from the essence of philosophy, and that the issue of the
relationship between them is one of difference in common, not one of complete
separation or form. Ideology, in one way or another, includes philosophical
content... and philosophy, in one way or another, plays an ideological role and
takes a position on the philosophical conceptions based on conflicting
ideologies, as well as on the concrete practices of those ideologies."
Defining this new trend, Nassar says that
dialectical realism is based on the principle of the independence of objective
reality and its primacy over theoretical reason. Objective reality is an
existing reality, present in external existence, placed before rational
thought. This is the realistic aspect of Nassar's approach, while his
dialectical aspect is the process of knowing this existing reality.
Nassar emphasizes that dialectical realism
resolves the traditional opposition between empiricism and rationalism, and
considers the acquisition of objective truth - that is, the process of
reasoning and subjecting the mind to reality - a constantly renewed project, in
which theories are integrated until the end of historical time, if it has an
end.
Nassar acknowledges that dialectical realism is not a primary philosophical
theory: that is, it does not provide the final explanation for the process of
knowledge and the principles of human existence. Rather, it is part of a system
and not the part that should be called the primary theory. Dialectical realism
is not in and of itself a critical theory, but it constitutes the necessary
introduction to critical theory (p. 89).
Second: The approach of integrated systems
and scientific ideology
After Nassar discusses the concept of the
ideology of science, he moves on to examine the problems that must be studied
to develop a comprehensive theory of scientific ideology. In his attempt to
resolve the problem of sectarianism - a problem in which conflicting and
contradictory ideologies clash, threatening dire consequences - Nassar calls
for a scientific framework, the adoption of the authority of scientific reason,
and the establishment of a sound relationship between science and politics, and
between science and authority - or, more precisely, between the worker in the
field of science and the management of societal life. Therefore, we see him
striving to propose a comprehensive theory of scientific ideology, since only
theory can support the authority of scientific reason. To achieve this, he
examines the problems that must be studied to develop this theory and proposes
a classification under which these problems fall.
Nassar concludes that the ideology of
science is a view of social life as a whole from the perspective of science and
activity. It is based on a philosophical and scientific outlook, but it is
scientific from A to Z. Thus, scientific ideology blends data from human
philosophy, world philosophy, history, and sociology, as well as data on the
relationship of science to various sectors and levels of social life at a given
stage of social history.
Third: Open critical rationalism and the
problem of boundaries between reason and ideology
Nassar argues that this problem of
boundaries is inherent in the history of reason. Just as this history has
witnessed attempts to define the limits of reason from the perspective of
religion, and other attempts from the perspective of philosophy, it has also
witnessed attempts to deny the existence of limits before reason. Nassar
therefore calls for what he calls "open critical rationality" so that
the results of these attempts can be absorbed into the process of rebuilding
rationality...a rationality that practices critical analysis of reason's
capabilities, rights, practices, and limits, without fear of submitting to any
belief system that claims the right to define the legitimate limits of reason,
and without commitment to any worship of reason.
He defines the limits of reason in ideology
at the level of the group's identity, its supreme values, and its interim
goals. He defines the limits of ideology in relation to reason at three levels:
the level of the search for truth, the level of man and his destiny, and the
level of universal human values.
Nassar concludes by saying that the
conflict between reason and ideology in our current world continues over the
boundaries between them... It is a conflict in a long history of conflicts that
reason has known in its dialectical relationship with types of belief, and
perhaps it leads more than any other to inflaming people’s feelings, across the
globe, of the need to develop rationality and champion it.
Commenting on this presentation of the
relationship between ideology, philosophy, and science, using Nassar's theory
of "dialectical realism," the "integrated systems"
approach, and the "open critical rationalism" perspective, Dr. Naffady
asks: Should we adopt dialectical realism or open critical rationalism? He
believes it would be better for Nassar to adhere to one and integrate the other
into the fabric of his philosophy so that it does not appear as if it were a
reconciliation of conflicting doctrines. He believes that he could have adopted
"dialectical realism" as the title of his doctrine and attempted to
ground it, drawing it not only to answer the fundamental philosophical question
posed by the new historical and civilizational phase that the Arab world is
experiencing today, namely, answering the question of humanity, but also to
answer the question of knowledge. (Nassif Nassar and Ideology: Scientific or
Salafist, Al-Sayed Nafady, pp. 309-328).
On the other hand, Adonis Al-Akka reviews
Nassar’s concept of ‘dialectical realism’ in terms of its connection to
societal reality, as follows:
The reality this thinker deals with
includes, in its exclusive sense, what the actual and historical existence of
contemporary Arab society in general, and Lebanese society in particular,
offers, and what the Arab and Lebanese person offers in the objectivity of his
problems and suffering. It also includes, in its general sense, the
implications of the historical and civilizational situation in which the Arab
peoples live, and the implications of the general human civilizational
situation of which the specific Arab situation forms a part. From this reality,
he sets out to define the fundamental philosophical issue, and to it he returns
in a critical stance that guarantees the creative path of the dialectical
movement between particularity and comprehensiveness. What is the basis of the
theory of "dialectical realism" in Nassif Nassar's writings?
The theory of dialectical realism is based
primarily on "the independence and primacy of objective reality over
theoretical reason." This raises the question of how this objective
reality is known: Is it a process of transferring the image imprinted in
consciousness into an external expression through language, logic, and other
means commonly used by humankind for communication and the transmission of
ideas? Or does purely mental activity play a fundamental role in manifesting
this objective reality and adapting it to the dynamics of living thought? ...
The fact is that this question was raised in the context of his study of the
ideological conflict in Lebanon. Therefore, the reality to be studied is belief
as a cultural phenomenon within a specific societal framework, and this
requires clarifying the theoretical reality that enables this task to be
undertaken in a manner that facilitates progress in the crystallization of the
theoretical construct he seeks to create. Objective reality, Nassar says, is an
existing and present reality in external existence, presented to rational
thought, but its knowledge is a dialectical process of reflection. To clarify
this, the dynamics of "rational thought" deny that knowledge is
merely a reflection of objective reality in rational consciousness. Rather,
knowledge follows a pattern of existing reality declaring itself and revealing
itself to rational consciousness. Then comes purely rational activity to mold
and formulate the givens of existing reality. Here, Nassar considers
dialectical realism "attempts to resolve the traditional opposition
between empiricism and rationalism, and considers the possession of objective
truth - that is, the process of understanding reality and subordinating reason
to reality - to be a constantly renewed project,
in which theories are integrated until the end of historical time, if it
has an end."
There are two issues generated by the
reality from which Nassar begins: imitation and dependency. Tradition leads to
adopting a position on heritage that is limited to highlighting and evaluating
its achievements within the framework of their bygone historical stage.
However, historical and civilizational criticism is likely to subject
knowledge, values, and facts to the logic and dynamism of advanced life and to
the logic of evolution. It rejects the application of the past to the present
because the logic of real life refuses to submit to the past. Dependency, on
the other hand, leads to adopting a position on the history of philosophy that
is limited to emphasizing its role in conveying the experiences of human
thought and its various historical civilizational situations, but it rejects
isolation within it and its captivity. However, the dialectic that pervades
this reality ensures the connection of the past to the present within a
framework of belonging, interaction, and positive participation. This is
achieved by absorbing the valid elements of history and heritage and
transforming them into an authentic and contemporary creative process based on
awareness of the role of philosophical action in the cultural and societal
reality, specific to time and place. In this dialectic between rejection and
adherence, the history of philosophy and heritage acquire a unified,
illuminating meaning, and with their theoretical wealth they become a source of
inspiration and life.
The reality to which Nassar returns
generates two issues: specificity and comprehensiveness. A profound
understanding of the historical and civilizational situation surrounding the
Arab world at the present time reveals the distinctiveness of its fundamental
problems and issues from others in all other civilizational situations, whether
from Arab history itself or from the history of world civilizations.
Confronting these new problems requires a new stance bearing new concerns and
new ideas specific to this particular time and this particular human being.
Every group has its own particularities, and every social-historical philosophy
is merely an expression of the viewpoint of that particular group, whether a
nation, a class, a party, or otherwise. As for comprehensiveness, philosophical
thought, by its nature, tends to transcend the frameworks of space and time to
attain the comprehensiveness of the universal human condition. That is, it
rises to the level of man as man and attempts to understand human existence in
its basic forms and dimensions, thereby transcending the symptoms and
specificities of the groups and societies that gave birth to it. However, in
this contradictory reality, there is also a dialectic that ensures integration
between realistic specificity and realistic comprehensiveness. The particular
philosophical experience that succeeds in expressing the reality that gave
birth to it quickly turns into a comprehensive situation that is, in a sense,
included in the reality of total human existence (Nassif Nassar in The Battle
for Philosophical Independence, Adonis Al-Akkara, pp. 536-538).
Nation, Authority, Freedom and
Historical Existence
After establishing the systematic
relationship between philosophy and ideology, it became possible for Nassar to
complete the conceptual elements of the project. This, for him, was represented
by establishing the concept of the "Arab" nation, based on the
principle of "freedom" and a correct conception of the concept of
"authority," which is based on its "historical existence"
and on the Arab person's (the self's) realization of his existence. These
concepts, taken together, form the basis for what he calls the "Second
Arab Renaissance." His subsequent works theoretically establish these concepts,
with the centrality of the concept of "secularism."
A- Authority
Muhammad Bin Hammani presents Nassar’s concept of authority in ‘Religion
and Authority from the Perspective of Nassif Nassar’, and summarizes this
presentation in the following lines:
One of the names given to his philosophy by the philosopher Nassif
Nassar is the philosophy of power. This term derives its direct legitimacy from
the philosopher 's dedication of an entire book to a topic he considers central
to his philosophy: power, a subject entitled " The Logic of Power."
This term also derives its legitimacy from the practical spirit that pervades
this philosopher's philosophy, as a rational political philosophy based on the
restoration of practical political reason. The philosophy's fundamental premise,
as its author says , is "the search for a fieldwork strategy to support
the secularization movement and push it toward full realization in the Arab
world ," within the framework of what he calls the Second Arab Renaissance.
It is also a restoration through which Nassif Nassar seeks to engage, through a
new philosophy of power, in the raging philosophical- political debate today
about the role of religion in politics, following the rise of religious
fundamentalist movements in various regions of the world.
He adds,
Hence, and based on these two roles: practical and theoretical,
which Nassif Nassar assigns to philosophy, we assume in this study that
Christian philosophical theorizing about religion and authority is governed by
a specific vision of religious authority. This vision considers religion a
model to be emulated by any authority that seeks to be synonymous with tyranny
and hegemony, "since every other hegemony, whether of reason, the state,
or otherwise, draws inspiration from the model of religious hegemony and
bestows upon itself religious attributes such as absolutism and sanctity."
The reality of political authority in the Arab world is the best witness to this.
Furthermore, this vision considers that any reconstruction of authority, so
that it becomes a right to command and a duty to obey - that is, a space for rational practice based
on justice and freedom - inevitably requires liberating religious authority
from this hegemony. This liberation can only be achieved in secular society, a
society this philosopher hopes will be realized in the Arab world. This
liberation of religious authority from its dominance remains, in the Christian perspective,
one of the tasks of political authority as the primary authority in society. It
is assumed that it should be reconstructed to be a symbol of achieving justice
in its practice on the one hand, and in its relationship with other
authorities, especially religious authority, on the other hand. Thus, and in
accordance with this hypothesis, we In this study, we will examine the
philosopher Nassif Nassar's concept of authority and the nature of both
political and religious authority. Our goal is to examine his vision of the
possible relationships between these two authorities, how to achieve a just
exercise of authority in a secular society, and the prospects for this exercise
in Arab society. (Religion and Authority from the Perspective of Nassif Nassar
- Mohammed Benhamani, Believers Without Borders Foundation, September 2016).
b- Freedom
In contrast, Muhammad Nur al-Din Affaiya summarizes the central
idea in Nasar’s ‘The Door to Freedom’ as follows:
Nassif Nassar seems obsessed with the issue of renaissance. In
"Bab al-Hurriya," he clearly links what he calls the "Second
Arab Renaissance" with the concept of reconstruction. He believes that
"everything in the Arab world needs, to one degree or another,
reconstruction. Reconstruction means, first, reconsidering and evaluating what
the renaissance and then the revolution proposed... Reconstruction means,
second, developing a clear vision of the core values without which the process
of change cannot be truly renaissance in the conditions of the new century.
Third, it means implementing practical plans that take into account what is
necessary and appropriate in the near future and what is necessary and
appropriate in the distant future. Reconstruction requires criticism, but does
not revert to it. It requires conservatism, but does not revert to it. It
requires demolition, but does not revert to it. It also requires initiative,
imagination, and adventure."
Reconstruction is, at its core, a call to produce a new world
through a "creative construction process" and "unleashing the
powers of freedom, reason, and imagination." Freedom for the self with
itself, and the invocation of the principle of solidarity in the self's
relationship with others. This reconstruction presupposes a philosophical and
ideological choice that Nassif Nassar calls "symbiotic liberalism,"
calling for its "generalization and consolidation in Arab societies with
the aim of achieving a comprehensive civilizational renaissance in all aspects
of their lives and effective participation in the globalization movement and
its institutions." (Subjectivity and Philosophical Awareness of Existence
in the Views of Nassif Nassar - Muhammad Nur al-Din Affaya, p. 98).
C- Self and presence
"Self and Presence" completes Nassar's trilogy, which focuses
on the practical side of his philosophy. It is also the most abstract and
theoretical work. Mohammed Al-Masbahi reviews some of the central ideas in this
book as follows:
Moving on to the introduction to the book "Self and
Presence," which consists of seven chapters and 28 sections. These
chapters serve a single goal: to prove the presence of the self and how the
self creates its essence and identity. If we translate this goal into
Aristotelian language - that is, if we translate presence as action, or the
transition from potential to action - we are justified in saying that the
subject of the book is to examine the self's emergence from potential to
action. However, the author surprises us by defining it as a brief study of the
"principles of historical existence," or as a study of the existence
of action or existence in action, considering it the completion or culmination
of a larger project that began with his two books: "The Logic of
Power" and "The Door to Freedom." "Its topics range from
the here and now to the infinite absolute." The book's chapters and
sections "revolving around a single question: What does it mean for man to
create himself? And that he is... capable of determining his own destiny, not
just knowing himself. Self-determination means... that man is capable of being
himself by becoming himself... and this is the logic of the present and the
challenge of presence." This means that self-knowledge is not enough;
rather, one must move from that to self-determination by creating oneself with
the tools of reason and freedom. (A reading of the book "Self and
Presence" by Muhammad Al-Masbahi, p. 108)
Suspicion of classification
In radical intellectual projects, doubts
sometimes arise about the project's classification, a doubt that only recedes
with the passage of time (and sometimes persists, even as disagreement over the
thinker's intellectual position persists). In the case of Nassar's project of
philosophical independence, doubts arise regarding its classification: does it
represent a philosophical project in the sense Nassar himself proposed, or is
it an ideological position?
Muhammad Al-Masbahi justifies his
classification of Nassif Nassar as a philosopher (and thus considering his
project a philosophical project) as follows:
"Nassar is a true philosopher," firstly
because he believes in philosophy; secondly because he stubbornly insisted on
renewing Arabic philosophical discourse at the levels of problematics,
language, and methodology; thirdly because he refused to address anything but
humanity in general; fourthly because the search for essence was a necessary
requirement of his philosophical thinking; fifthly because he thought
philosophically from within the Arabic language; and sixthly because he
succeeded in creating his own language and a specific philosophical stance,
which is the philosophy of presence. What enhances Nassar's philosophical
authenticity is his practice of several methods such as dialectics,
exploration, phenomenology, interpretation, diagnostic analysis, ontological
theory, axiological theory, and epistemological theory. (Mohamed Al-Masbahi - A
Reading of the Book "The Self and Presence").
In contrast, Ilham Mansour believes that
this project falls within the realm of ideology.
All these observations place Nassir's
statement within the realm of ideology and politics, not pure philosophy. I
pause to conclude by stating that Nassif Nassir's statement does not claim to
be philosophical, but rather aspires to be one. This is a positive thing
because it requires effort and continuity. (Where do we place Nassif Nassir's statement? - Ilham Mansour, p.
167).
Al-Sayyed Naffady also supports this, but from a
methodological-cognitive perspective, as he sees,
To begin with, Nassar admits that he is not
seeking to present a specific philosophical doctrine, but rather to chart a
path that could lead to the formation of a new Arab philosophical thought,
while simultaneously explaining his conception of the act of philosophizing. Naffady
believes that Nassar could have adopted "dialectical realism" as the
title of his doctrine and attempted to ground it, drawing it not only to answer
the fundamental philosophical question posed by the new historical and
civilizational phase that the Arab world is experiencing today, namely,
answering the question of humanity, but also to answer the question of
knowledge. He would thus have taken a purely philosophical position on issues
of abstract knowledge. (Nassif Nassar and Ideology: Scientific or Salafist,
Sayyid Naffady, p. 326)
Antoine Seif also sees Nassar's project as
an ideology because it aims to achieve a specific collective benefit at a
specific historical stage (Philosophical Independence in Nassif Nassar -
"Nassif Nassir from Philosophical Independence to the Philosophy of
Presence"), and Mohammed Sabila also classifies it as an ideological
project (Mechanisms of the Ideological Mind in Nassif Nassir's Writings,
"Nassif Nassir from Philosophical Independence to the Philosophy of
Presence").
The Future of the Arab Renaissance
Nassif Nassar presents his view on the
future of the Arab Renaissance in an interview with Al-Rai newspaper (2012) in
the following lines:
I said that the second Arab renaissance
must be a comprehensive civilizational renaissance. By that, I mean that it
must be economic, transforming the existing economic systems in Arab countries,
just as it must transform cultural, social, and political systems. This means
that scientific knowledge alone is absolutely insufficient to produce a comprehensive
renaissance across Arab societies.
Science is a very important factor in the
process of changing the prevailing mentality, but it is one factor among a
number of other factors that must be combined for the Arab peoples to achieve a
comprehensive renaissance on new foundations. Democracy, for example, benefits
greatly from the positive influence of the humanities, but it also requires a
new philosophical outlook on man, society, and politics, based on a set of
principles, including the principle of the rational, independent, and free
individual within the framework of his belonging to the national group. It also
requires appropriate educational systems and a rethinking of the family and
work systems. Therefore, we must take a long-term view, without abbreviation or
haste, of the transformations and plans that serve Arab efforts towards the
desired renaissance. (Al-Rai newspaper interview, Nassif Nassar: The Second
Arab Renaissance is Coming).
His most important works
o
Towards a New Society: Basic Introductions to the
Critique of Sectarian Society - 1970
o
The Path of Philosophical Independence : The
Path of Arab Thought to Freedom and Creativity - 1977
o
The Path of Philosophical Commitment - 1979
o
Philosophy in the Battle of Ideology: Theses on
the Analysis of Ideology and the Liberation of Philosophy from Its Dominance -
1980
o
Realistic Thought in Ibn Khaldun: An Analytical
Dialectical Interpretation of Ibn Khaldun’s Thought in Its Structure and
Meaning - 1981.
o
The Concept of the Nation between Religion and
History: A Study of the Meaning of the Nation in the Arab-Islamic Heritage -
1983.
o
Contemporary Concepts of the Nation: An
Analytical Study of Concepts of the Nation in Modern and Contemporary Arab
Thought - 1986
o
Discussions for the Committed Mind - 1986
o
The Concept of the Nation between Religion and
History - 1987
o
Ideology at Stake: New Chapters in the Analysis
and Criticism of Ideology - 1994
o
The Logic of Power: An Introduction to the
Philosophy of Command - 1995
o
Thinking and Migration: From Heritage to the
Second Arab Renaissance - 1997
o
In Education and Politics: When does an
individual become a citizen in Arab countries? - 2000
o
The Door to Freedom: The Emergence of Existence
in Action - 2003
o
Self and Presence: An Inquiry into the Principles
of Historical Existence - 2009
o
Signs and Paths: From Ibn Rushd's Iwan to the
Realm of Secularism - 2011
In French
o
Realistic Thought in Ibn
Khaldun (PhD Thesis) - 1967
Research
o
Philosophical Communication and the Discourse
Field - Al-Mustaqbal
Al-Arabi Magazine
o
Contribution to the Critique of the Total
System - Center
for Arab Unity Studies
Dialogues
o
Religion is based on faith, and faith is
possible with the independence of reason and the state from religion - Al-Rai Newspaper
o
Nassif Nassar: The Second Arab Renaissance is
Coming - Al-Akhbar
Newspaper
Articles about him
o
From Ibn Rushd's Iwan to the realm of
secularism... A break with the weeping reading of heritage - Rachid Boutayeb
o
Philosophy in the Battlefield of Justice: A
Reading of Nassif Nassar’s Concept of the Dialectic of Power and Justice – Nabil Fazyou
o
Where do we place the saying of Nassif Nassar - Ilham Mansour
o
Nassif Nassar, Perceptions of the Contemporary
Nation - Maan
Bashour
o
Arab Philosophical Rationality in the Mirror
of Nassif Nassar - Abdel-Ilah
Belqaziz
Written about him
o
The Path of Philosophical
Independence (The Gate of Freedom): Critical Readings in the Thought of Nassif
Nassar - 2003
o
Nassif Nassar: The
Science of Philosophical Independence - 2008
o
Nassif Nassar: From
Philosophical Independence to the Philosophy of Presence - 2014
Texts
o
Ibn Khaldun's Realistic
Thought - Introduction: The Emergence and
Structure of the Problem
o
The Logic of Power, An
Introduction to the Philosophy of Command - Chapter Four: The Power of the Ruler
and the Power of the State
sources
o Nassif Nassar and Ideology: Scientific or Salafist,
Sayed Naffady, Philosophical Papers Magazine, Cairo, Issue
43, pp. 305-328.
o Adonis Al-Akra, 2003, “Nassif Nassar in the Battle for
Philosophical Independence,” Proceedings of the Twelfth Philosophical
Symposium: Philosophy in the Arab World in One Hundred Years, Egyptian
Philosophical Society, Center for Arab Unity Studies. pp. 531-539.
o Religion and Power from the Perspective of Nassif
Nassar - Mohamed Benhamani, Believers Without Borders Foundation, September
2016.
o Reading in the book “Self and Presence ” , 2014, Muhammad Al-Masbahi – Al-Mustaqbal Al-Arabi
Magazine, Issue 424, pp. 104-114.
o Subjectivity and Philosophical Awareness of
Existence in the Views of Nassif Nassar , 2014, Muhammad Nur al-Din Afaya - Al-Mustaqbal al-Arabi Magazine, Issue
424, pp. 92-103.
o Philosophical
Independence in Nassif Nassar: A Concept and a Path Project, Antoine Seif,
2014, in “Nassif Nassir: From Philosophical Independence to the Philosophy of
Presence,” Center
for Arab Unity Studies , pp. 49-91.
o Mechanisms
of the Ideological Mind in the Writings of Nassif Nassar, Muhammad Sabila,
“Nassif Nassir: From Philosophical Independence to the Philosophy of Presence,” Center for Arab Unity Studies , pp. 93-100.
by: Samir
Abu Zeid