Ibn Khaldun's Science of Human Culture

Heinrich Simon Fuad Baali (Translation) Paperback 9789670957241 This is an English translation of Heinrich Simon's Wissenschaft von der Menschlichen Culture (Leipzig, 1959). The title of the book is self-explanatory and, as Simon puts it, "it is indeed Ibn Khaldun's merit to have made human society the subject of a new, separate science." The German scholar's chief purpose in writing the book is to establish the connection of Ibn Khaldun's work with the philosophical tradition. He shows that Ibn Khaldun's Science of Human Culture is something essentially new at the time and that Ibn Khaldun was the first to attempt the formulation of social laws. The book also considers the relationship between Ibn Khaldun's views and religious attitudes toward history, as well as whether Ibn Khaldun's view of history is compatible with Islamic thought. Contents include an introduction, discussions on the historical situation, the life and work of Ibn Khaldun, his position in the philosophical tradition, the meaning of ‘Asabiyyah,’ history as a cycle, economic factors in human society, the function and significance of the state, Ibn Khaldun’s relation to religion, and a concluding chapter.