APPLYING THE LESSONS: IDEALS VERSUS REALITIES OF HAPPINESS FROM MEDIEVAL ISLAM TO THE "FOUNDING FATHERS". Issue 1 (19th February 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Cornell, Vincent J.
• Is Part Of: Journal of law and religion. Volume 29:Issue 1(2014)
• Page Start: 92
• Page End: 108
• Publication Date: 2014-02-19
• Subjects: Religion and law -- Periodicals; 344.096
• DOI: 10.1017/jlr.2013.7
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0748-0814

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="normal"> <title>Abstract</title> <p>The idea of happiness and its pursuit have been taken up by thinkers in many times and places. This article examines the role of happiness as a concept and goal in medieval Islamic thought and, especially, in the work of Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad al-Ghazālī and Abū Naṣr al-Fārābī. In examining Ghazālī's and Fārābī's perspectives on happiness, the article looks at the influence of Plato and Aristotle on these medieval Islamic thinkers and puts Islamic thought on happiness in conversation with the views of the American founders.</p> </abstract>