THE WORLD TURNED INSIDE OUT
Henry Corbin and Islamic Mysticism
"A deep reading of Tom Cheetham's
The World Turned Inside Out
could have the effectof turning the reader inside out! Not only will a person discover in this book a thoroughunderstanding of the remarkable and important vision of Henry Corbin, the great Frenchscholar of Iranian Islam. The reader will also be engaged by a politically useful understand-ing of the religion of Islam generally, of mystical and negative theology, of monotheism, of the philosophy of imagination, of language and the textures of textuality, and of the natureof reading and thinking. Among other things, a careful reading of this book can informcurrent interpretations of the politics of terrorism, its wars and the wars against it. In short,there exists here a shaking of the foundations of human perspectives that comes to nothingshort of a radical
revisioning
of
all
attempts to make sense of the life and meaning of beingin the world."David L. MillerWatson-Ledden Professor of Religion, Emeritus, Syracuse UniversityCore Faculty Member, Pacifica Graduate Institute"Tom Cheetham does an absolutely splendid job of opening up Corbin's thought to thegeneral reader. Corbin's work addresses our contemporary situation in a most direct way asthis book shows, and the author has made an important contribution to both the philoso-phy of religion and the history of religions. This is an interesting, careful and importantpiece of work that I hope will gain the recognition that it deserves."Charles AdamsEmeritus Professor of Islamic Studies, McGill University"A remarkable creative synthesis of the genius of Henry Corbin, the silent precursor of archetypal psychology. Tom Cheetham gives the gift of a metaphysics of inferiority balanc-ing pervasive, destructive, suffocating, spectator consciousness. And it is a convivialinteriority, filled with spiritual presences. The soul can breathe again because it has foundits homeland, the Soul of the World."Robert Sardelloauthor
of Freeing the Soul from Fear
and
The Power of Soul: Living the Twelve Virtues
"The first book in English devoted to the great French author Henry Corbin, TomCheetham's
The World Turned Inside Out
is an excellent introduction to and survey of Corbin's work and thought. Corbin is unique among 20th century scholars of Islam in hisability to imaginatively enter the world of the Sufi gnostics and to apply their insights to themodern world. Cheetham's book provides us with a bracing and stimulating overview of this seminal author's work and its implications: this is a book for all who suspect that, toparaphrase Plato, there is more to life than that which can be grasped in one's hands."
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