{"id":2216,"date":"2018-02-16T09:00:47","date_gmt":"2018-02-16T14:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.library.mcgill.ca\/islamicstudieslibrary\/?p=2216"},"modified":"2018-02-20T12:54:50","modified_gmt":"2018-02-20T17:54:50","slug":"the-dialectical-forge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.library.mcgill.ca\/islamicstudieslibrary\/the-dialectical-forge\/","title":{"rendered":"New Publication: The Dialectical Forge, by Dr. Walter Edward Young"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The Dialectical Forge: Juridical disputation and the evolution of Islamic law<\/a>, published in 2017, is the first monograph of Dr. Walter Young (although he has a number of other works in preparation, see below<\/a>), graduate of the Institute of Islamic Studies. This book is a revised version of Dr. Young’s 2012 Ph.D. thesis, supervised by Prof. Robert Wisnovsky and Prof. Wael Hallaq, and is the 9th volume in Springer’s “Logic, argumentation & reasoning” series.<\/p>\n

We had the occasion to ask the author a few questions regarding his monograph in a short email interview:<\/p>\n

JM<\/strong>: This is a revised version of your Ph.D. thesis? What aspects have changed between the two versions?<\/p>\n


\nWY<\/strong>: Yes, significantly revised. Among other revisions:\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. It is a single volume\u2014the dissertation\u2019s second volume (the translation of the Ikhtil\u0101f al-\u02bfIr\u0101qiyy\u012bn \/al-\u02bfIr\u0101qiyyayn) has been mostly excised; <\/em><\/li>\n
  2. The focus throughout is maintained almost solely on juridical dialectic (no treatment of theological or philosophical dialectic, apart from Aristotle); <\/em><\/li>\n
  3. The case studies have been expanded and all now appear with full prose analyses; <\/em><\/li>\n
  4. A new section detailing Ab\u016b Is\u1e25\u0101q al-Sh\u012br\u0101z\u012b\u2019s theory of qiy\u0101s has been appended.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    JM<\/strong>: What can you tell us about this book?<\/p>\n

    WY<\/strong>: The real aim of the book is to bring juridical dialectic into the limelight as a key dynamic in the shaping not only of substantive rulings (fiqh, fur\u016b\u02bf), but of legal theory (u\u1e63\u016bl al-fiqh) and dialectical theory (jadal\/mun\u0101\u1e93ara) itself. <\/em><\/p>\n

    In fact, in my view, and I believe it is supported by mountains of evidence and obvious to most who consider it, the exigencies of dialectical disputation left their marks on all Islamicate intellectual projects whose scholars engaged in it. The study of the theory and practice of Islamicate dialectics should, in my view, provide essential concepts and tools for exploring, analyzing, and comprehending all such Islamic sciences which may in any way be qualified as \u201cargumentative\u201d (i.e., pretty much everything). It should therefore be a thriving discipline, but remains understudied\u2014in fact practically unknown in the larger field of Islamic Studies (despite some excellent contributions in the last four decades). So a key aim of the Dialectical Forge (and pretty much all of my work) is to promote the study of Islamic dialectics, and to try to get scholars excited about it and involved in it. One way to do this, I think, is by showcasing the high level of sophistication attained by dialecticians (practitioners and theoreticians), by publishing and analyzing both the theory literature and example\/historical disputations.<\/em><\/p>\n

    In this spirit of inspiring scholars to be excited about and involved in the study of Islamicate dialectics, Dr. Young has created an impressive website: the Society for the Study of Islamicate Dialectical Disputation (SSIDD)<\/a>. This site hosts information and resources on the study of Islamicate dialectical theories, practices and contexts, as well as a discussion forum for scholars to share ideas and sources.<\/p>\n

    JM<\/strong>: What drew you to this area of research?<\/p>\n

    WY<\/strong>: Two key factors\u2014via the work of two esteemed advisors, mentors, and friends\u2014drew me to the study of Islamicate dialectical disputation in general, and juristic dialectics in particular: <\/em><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. A brilliant (and for me, career-changing) class on Islamic dialectical theory (especially the \u0101d\u0101b al-ba\u1e25th) conducted by Rob Wisnovsky; <\/em><\/li>\n
    2. The teachings and publications of Wael Hallaq in the areas of legal and dialectical theory. <\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      And I was very privileged to have both Prof. Wisnovsky and Prof. Hallaq as advisors to my dissertation.<\/em><\/p>\n

      We wish to congratulate Dr. Young on his monograph, and thank him kindly for his comments!<\/p>\n

      <\/a>Other publications by Dr. Walter Edward Young<\/strong><\/p>\n

      Articles:<\/p>\n