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Towards an analytic, Farabian conception of orientalism

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journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-10, 05:46 authored by Anthony BoothAnthony Booth
In this paper, I attempt to develop what I call an ‘Analytic, Fa¯ra¯bian’ conception of Orientalism. The motivation for this conception is that it helps us with the task––identified by Wael B. Hallaq––of going beyond ‘rudimentary political slogans’ attached to the theory of Orientalism and instead to identifying Orientalism’s underlying ‘psycho-epistemic pathology’ (Hallaq 2018, 4). In order to do this properly, according to Hallaq, we need to find a methodological alternative to that which makes Orientalist discourse possible. Hallaq identifies the underlying problem as a commitment to secular humanism, and the solution its abandonment. However, I think the problem is a deeper one, which can roughly be stated as follows: how can we accept the pervasiveness of ideological influence without abandoning the idea that our theories aim (and to some extent succeed) at representing objective reality—such that we can say that Orientalism is a real phenomenon, and not merely something we happen to believe is a phenomenon. Conceiving Orientalism from within a Fa¯ra¯bian epistemology and using analytic tools to understand it (which I argue constitutes a unique and distinctive kind of fallibilism) makes head-way here where other conceptions fail.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Published version

Journal

European journal of analytic philosophy

ISSN

1845-8475

Publisher

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences University of Rijeka

Issue

2

Volume

18

Page range

S2-25

Department affiliated with

  • Philosophy Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2023-01-03

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2023-01-03

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2023-01-03

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