In this book the author seeks to explain the distinct character of Islamic art as a manifestation of the spiritual realities of the Quranic revelation in the world of forms. The book undertakes to study certain important facets of Islamic art ranging from calligraphy, painting and architecture to music, literature and plastic art, and underlines the sacred and spiritual nature of each. While the author has dealt with Islamic art, as produced in various countries of the Islamic world, his universe (...) of discourse is primarily Persian art. For Nasr, Islamic art is essentially an outcome of the inner dimension of Islam which is inextricably related to Islamic spirituality. This esoteric aspect has all along molded the soul of the Muslim artist by imbuing in them certain transcendental attitudes and virtues derived from the Quran and the prophetic traditions. In support of his esoteric thesis Nasr argues that many of the greatest masterpieces of Islamic art were created much before the sciences of the Quran and the Hadith were fully codified and accepted in the world of Islam as the ultimate authoritative works produced in those fields. If Islamic art leads to the inner chamber of the Islamic tradition it is because this art is a message from the noumenal world sent to those qualified to harken to its liberating message. It also provides a climate of peace and equilibrium for society as a whole in conformity with the nature of Islam. (shrink)

This book is an expanded version of the reports of two seminars on sociology taught by Professor Wagner at the University of Alberta. Wagner, in this book, attempts to apply the phenomenological approach to the development of his own sociological theory. In his endeavor he has leaned largely on the writings of his celebrated teacher Alfred Schutz—“a major figure in the development of sociology on a phenomenological basis.” Wagner writes enthusiastically about Schutz and the present volume is, to some extent, (...) a working out of Schutz’s basic ideas. (shrink)