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| Egyptian Art and Culture |
Edited by S Suwellam, London, UK /
| Zaki Naguib Mahmoud Philosopher of Authors & Author of Philosophers |
Zaki Naguib Mahmoud is one of the pioneers of enlightenment
along half a century. He is "the philosopher of authors and author
of philosophers," as Abbas Mahmoud Al-Aqqad put it.
along half a century. He is "the philosopher of authors and author
of philosophers," as Abbas Mahmoud Al-Aqqad put it.
Zaki Naguib Mahmoud was born on February 2,1905 in Damietta governorate. He
attended Gordon College in Sudan where his father was working at that time, returned
to Cairo and joined the department of philosophy at the Faculty of Arts, Cairo
University. He graduated in 1930. Then, he worked as a teacher of philosophy in
secondary schools. In 1974, he was given a scholarship to England to do a doctoral
thesis on self-determinatin. There, he knew closely the philosopher of the 20th century
Ph.D. Bertrand Russell and the great logician John Eyre.
attended Gordon College in Sudan where his father was working at that time, returned
to Cairo and joined the department of philosophy at the Faculty of Arts, Cairo
University. He graduated in 1930. Then, he worked as a teacher of philosophy in
secondary schools. In 1974, he was given a scholarship to England to do a doctoral
thesis on self-determinatin. There, he knew closely the philosopher of the 20th century
Ph.D. Bertrand Russell and the great logician John Eyre.
When he came back, he was appointed lecturer, then, assistant professor and finally professor of philosophy at the
Faculty of Arts, Cairo University.
Among the distinguished positions Zaki Naguib Mahmoud held are: professor of philosophy in the University of Kuwait,
writer in Al-Ahram
Newspaper, member of the Supreme Council of Culture, the National Council of Culture and the National Council of
Education and Scientific Research.
Zaki Naguib Mahmoud’s encyclopedic reference books on philosophy and literature, not to mention his translations of the
masterpieces of
philosophy, all contributed to enrich Arabic literature. His intellectual life is divided into two main periods:
In the first period, Zaki Naguib Mahmoud laid the foundations of his intellectual production from which and sometimes
from the corrective or
polemical treatment of which the second period emerged. He held that disciplined and systematic verification of
knowledge is the ultimate
object of philosophy and that logical analysis of language is the prime tool to that end. He concluded that knowledge is of
two kinds: mental and
emotional.
At that period, Zaki Naguib Mahmoud wrote:
Symbolic Logic (1951), The Philosophy of Science (1952), The Mythology of Metaphysics (1953) reprinted in 1983
under the title An Attitude
Towards Metaphysics, Intellectual Life in the Modern World (1956), The Theory of Knowledge (1956) and Towards a
Scientific Philosophy for
which he was given the State Incentive Award.
The second period began with the publication of The Artist East in 1956 where Zaki Naguib Mahmoud revealed the
historical dimension of
knowledge and the civilized, structural and comprehensive significance of such a dimension rather than its limited social
perspective. It is in
that book that he began to discover the main cultural peculiarities of eastern cultures against a background of those
characterizing western
cultures through dichotomies such as the sky and earth, emotion and reason, good and evil, originality and modernity and
so on. He generally
attributed the first item of each pair to the East, the second to the West. The two items were not, however, dealt with as
being completely
separate.
In his later works such as The Poetry of Al-Ghazali and The Attitude of Ibn Khaldun Towards Philosophy, the question of
the historical reality
of the Arab culture occupied his mind and he became much more interested in the Arab cultural heritage.
His book The Revival of Arab Intellect written in 1970 marks the peak of the second period. It drew a distinction
between the genius of the
Arab culture and borrowings from other cultures. The two criteria he established were the nature of creativity and the way
borrowing occurs.
In the books mentioned below, Zaki Naguib Mahmoud attempted to shape an integrated philosophical attitude, engage in,
criticize and foresee
the future of the cultural and intellectual Egyptian and Arab life. These are:
The Reasonable and the Absurd in our Intellectual Heritage (1975).
Our Culture Facing the Challenges of the Age (1976).
Our Intellectual Life (1979).
This Age and its Culture (1980).
On the Philosophy of Criticism (1983).
An Islamic Vision (1987).
On the Modernization of the Arab Culture (1988).
Seeds and Roots (1990).
Zaki Naguib Mahmoud was given the State Incentive Award in 1960, State Merit Award in 1970, Arab Educational,
Scientific and Cultural
Organization Award in 1984 and The American University in Cairo Honorary Doctorate in 1985.
In September 1997, the London-based Association named for Zaki Naguib Mahmoud was established.
*Source: SIS. Eg.
Faculty of Arts, Cairo University.
Among the distinguished positions Zaki Naguib Mahmoud held are: professor of philosophy in the University of Kuwait,
writer in Al-Ahram
Newspaper, member of the Supreme Council of Culture, the National Council of Culture and the National Council of
Education and Scientific Research.
Zaki Naguib Mahmoud’s encyclopedic reference books on philosophy and literature, not to mention his translations of the
masterpieces of
philosophy, all contributed to enrich Arabic literature. His intellectual life is divided into two main periods:
In the first period, Zaki Naguib Mahmoud laid the foundations of his intellectual production from which and sometimes
from the corrective or
polemical treatment of which the second period emerged. He held that disciplined and systematic verification of
knowledge is the ultimate
object of philosophy and that logical analysis of language is the prime tool to that end. He concluded that knowledge is of
two kinds: mental and
emotional.
At that period, Zaki Naguib Mahmoud wrote:
Symbolic Logic (1951), The Philosophy of Science (1952), The Mythology of Metaphysics (1953) reprinted in 1983
under the title An Attitude
Towards Metaphysics, Intellectual Life in the Modern World (1956), The Theory of Knowledge (1956) and Towards a
Scientific Philosophy for
which he was given the State Incentive Award.
The second period began with the publication of The Artist East in 1956 where Zaki Naguib Mahmoud revealed the
historical dimension of
knowledge and the civilized, structural and comprehensive significance of such a dimension rather than its limited social
perspective. It is in
that book that he began to discover the main cultural peculiarities of eastern cultures against a background of those
characterizing western
cultures through dichotomies such as the sky and earth, emotion and reason, good and evil, originality and modernity and
so on. He generally
attributed the first item of each pair to the East, the second to the West. The two items were not, however, dealt with as
being completely
separate.
In his later works such as The Poetry of Al-Ghazali and The Attitude of Ibn Khaldun Towards Philosophy, the question of
the historical reality
of the Arab culture occupied his mind and he became much more interested in the Arab cultural heritage.
His book The Revival of Arab Intellect written in 1970 marks the peak of the second period. It drew a distinction
between the genius of the
Arab culture and borrowings from other cultures. The two criteria he established were the nature of creativity and the way
borrowing occurs.
In the books mentioned below, Zaki Naguib Mahmoud attempted to shape an integrated philosophical attitude, engage in,
criticize and foresee
the future of the cultural and intellectual Egyptian and Arab life. These are:
The Reasonable and the Absurd in our Intellectual Heritage (1975).
Our Culture Facing the Challenges of the Age (1976).
Our Intellectual Life (1979).
This Age and its Culture (1980).
On the Philosophy of Criticism (1983).
An Islamic Vision (1987).
On the Modernization of the Arab Culture (1988).
Seeds and Roots (1990).
Zaki Naguib Mahmoud was given the State Incentive Award in 1960, State Merit Award in 1970, Arab Educational,
Scientific and Cultural
Organization Award in 1984 and The American University in Cairo Honorary Doctorate in 1985.
In September 1997, the London-based Association named for Zaki Naguib Mahmoud was established.
*Source: SIS. Eg.