Avicenna on Matter: Implications for Ernst Bloch's Marxist Aesthetics

Research Abstract

The question of the influence of Islamic philosophy on Western critical theory is far from being a well-established area of research and not without controversy. It becomes even more controversial when integrating an Islamic discourse as having implications for Marxist aesthetics. This is very true in the case of Avicenna and Ernst Bloch, an area which has not been addressed adequately. This article, therefore, explores how Avicenna was integrated into a materialist Western discourse, through playing a major role in what Bloch termed the Aristotelian Left, an idea that Bloch expressed in full in his Avicenna and the Aristotelian Left (1952). I argue that no matter how controversial the integration of Avicenna’s position on matter might be, it has significant implications for Bloch’s Marxist aesthetics and his warm stream of Marxism. By examining these implications, the present article sheds light on the possibilities latent in Islamic philosophy, in one of its variation, for a critical theory of culture and society.

Research Keywords

Avicenna, Aristotelian Left, Ernst Bloch, Marxist aesthetics, matter, the aesthetic Vor-Schein