Conference Presentations by Peter von Sivers
Abstracts of 6th Symposion May 1-4, 2019
Papers by Peter von Sivers
International Journal of Middle East Studies, Jul 1, 1975
University of Missouri Press eBooks, 1997
Voegelin's magisterial account of medieval political thought opens with a survey of the struc... more Voegelin's magisterial account of medieval political thought opens with a survey of the structure of the period and continues with an analysis of the Germanic invasions, the fall of Rome, and the rise of empire and monastic Christianity. The political implications of Christianity and philosophy in the period are elaborated in chapters devoted to John of Salisbury, Joachim of Flora (Fiore), Frederick II, Siger de Brabant, Francis of Assisi, Roman law, and climaxing in a remarkable study of Saint Thomas Aquinas's mighty thirteenth-century synthesis.Although "History of Political Ideas" was begun as a textbook for Macmillan, Voegelin never intended it to be a conventional chronological account. He sought instead an original comprehensive interpretation, founded on primary materials and taking into account the most advanced specialist scholarship or science as he called it available to him. Because of this, the book grew well beyond the confines of an easily marketable college survey and until now remained unpublished.In the process of writing it, Voegelin himself outgrew the conceptual frame of a "History of Political Ideas," turning to compose "Order and History" and the other works of his maturity. "History of Political Ideas" became the ordered collection of materials from which much of Voegelin's later theoretical elaboration grew, structured in a manner that reveals the conceptual intimations of his later thought. As such, it provides an unparalleled opportunity to observe the working methods and the intellectual evolution of one of our century's leading political thinkers. In its embracing scope, "History of Political Ideas" contains both analyses of themes Voegelin developed in his later works and discussions of authors and ideas to which he did not return or which he later approached from a different angle and with a different emphasis."The Middle Ages to Aquinas" has withstood the test of time. What makes it still highly valuable is its thoroughly revisionist approach, cutting through all the convenient cliches and generalizations and seeking to establish the experiential underpinnings that typified the medieval period."
History Compass, 2003
A central part of modern secularization has been the de-theologization of the stories of religiou... more A central part of modern secularization has been the de-theologization of the stories of religious origins. Islam is no different, even though this de-theologization tends to be obscured by contemporary fundamentalism. In Islam, the story of origins centers on Mecca, Medina, the prophet Muhammad, the early Muslim community, and the expansion out of Arabia. A few scholars at the end of the nineteenth century and many at the end of the twentieth century raised the question of whether this story should be considered a theology-that is, an apologia or justification-of origins rather than a history as traditionally understood. This article provides a survey of the Islamic origins literature produced by Middle East scholars in the last century. When The New York Times reports on a scholarly issue on its first page, the public knows it is time to catch up. On March 2, 2002, Alexander Stille, a writer and commentator on Italian political culture, published a 2000-word article titled "Scholars are quietly offering new theories of the Koran." 1 In the article, Stille discusses the by now quite weighty scholarship of the past thirty years on the issue of Islamic origins. A predecessor of the NYT article was an article in Atlantic Journal by Toby Lester. 2 A successor was a short piece in Newsweek International by Stefan Theil 3 (2003), which the governments of Bangladesh and Pakistan deemed to be so inflammatory that they confiscated the issue. A website 4 is devoted to the spread of Islamic secularization, and three anthologies present selections from the scholarship on Islamic origins. 5 Altogether, this scholarship comprises more than three dozen major monographs and another four score significant articles-hence its notoriety as noticed by the NYT. This article will first outline the origins of Islam as they are currently understood. Secondly, it will sketch the development of Islam during the two caliphal dynasties of the Umayyads and `Abbasids. Thirdly, it will trace the growth of scholarship in modern Middle Eastern studies leading to the contemporary de-theologization of history. History, theology, and Islamic origins Historians, committed to the study of manuscripts and archival documents, handle theological concepts-such as God, Creation, Revelation,
Journal of The Economic and Social History of The Orient, 1982
... 6) Bal., 196; al-Ya'qtibi, AIhmad b. Abi Ya'qaib, T... more ... 6) Bal., 196; al-Ya'qtibi, AIhmad b. Abi Ya'qaib, Tdrikh, ed. MT Houtsma (Leiden, 1883), II, 337; Guy Le Strange, Palestine Under the Moslems (London, 189o), 505. 7) Called "Jarijima", Bal. 197. 8) Bal., 198. 9) Ibid. Page 5. TAXES AND TRADE IN THE 'ABBXSID THUGHfR 75 ...
Canadian Journal of African Studies, 1981
Annales, 1980
Von Sivers Peter. Marshall G. S. HODGSON, The venture of Islam : conscience and history in World ... more Von Sivers Peter. Marshall G. S. HODGSON, The venture of Islam : conscience and history in World civilization, vol. I : The classical age of Islam ; vol 2 : The expansion of Islam in the Middle periods ; vol. 3 : The gunpowder empires and Modern Times.. In: Annales. Économies, Sociétés, Civilisations. 35ᵉ année, N. 3-4, 1980. pp. 516-521
Middle East Journal, 2005
Part One: The Beginnings 1. The Origins of Government2. The First Civil War and Sect Formation3. ... more Part One: The Beginnings 1. The Origins of Government2. The First Civil War and Sect Formation3. The UmayyadsPart Two: The Waning of the Tribal Tradition, c.700-900 4. General5. The Kharijites6. The Mu'tazilites7. The Shi'ites of the Umayyad Period8. The 'Abbasids and Shi'ism9. The Zaydis10. The Imamis11. The Hadith PartyPart Three Coping with a Fragmented World 12. General13. The Persian Tradition and Advice Literature14. The Greek Tradition and 'Political Science'15. The Ismailis16. The SunnisPart Four: Government and Society 17. The Nature of Government18. The Functions of Government19. Visions of Freedom20. The Social Order21. Muslims and Non-Muslims(a) Infidels(b) Muslims as Infidels22. Epilogue: Religion, Government and Society RevisitedBibliography, Abbreviations and ConventionsIndex and Glossary
Arabica, 1980
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact
International Journal of Middle East Studies, Jul 1, 1970
Canadian Journal of African Studies, 1983
African Economic History, 1978
International Journal of African Historical Studies, 1983
Middle East Studies Association Bulletin, May 1, 1978
International Journal of African Historical Studies, 1977
De Gruyter eBooks, Oct 25, 2021
Collective volume edited by Metter Bjerregaard Mortensen, Guillaume Dye, Isaac W. Oliver, and Tom... more Collective volume edited by Metter Bjerregaard Mortensen, Guillaume Dye, Isaac W. Oliver, and Tommaso Tesei (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2021)
Speculum, Apr 1, 2012
argue with the scope of his research, and the original, outside-the-box thinking applied to just ... more argue with the scope of his research, and the original, outside-the-box thinking applied to just about every single episode of Richard's reign, which leaves the reader with an insightful yet provocative interpretation that is guaranteed to reignite historical discussions of a manly yet misunderstood king.
Social Science Research Network, 2009
For anyone who knew Eric Voegelin personally, the question elicits a smile. "Why, of course, the ... more For anyone who knew Eric Voegelin personally, the question elicits a smile. "Why, of course, the distance is quite far" is my own, spontaneous answer. Voegelin's habitus, as I know it from Munich as well as Stanford, was clearly that of a man of reflective distance, not of mysticism. Reflection was his daily mode of thought, accompanied by reading, writing, and discussing. Distance was his way to stay focused on his contemplative-as opposed to activistlife devoted to philosophizing. Although he kept his distance from people and popular causes, he was not a recluse. He was a keen observer of life around him, high or low, and drew conclusions about, for example, the current political process which were unfailingly far more perspicacious than mine, even if I disagreed with them frequently for their conservatism. It would be hard for me to think of Voegelin as a mystic, as I still see him comfortably stretched out in his study chair, cigar in one hand, and the Wall Street Journal or a science fiction book in the other. Nevertheless, because of his insistence on articulating the experiential base of all philosophizing, there is perhaps at least an implicit element of mysticism in his thought, worthy of more detailed investigation. Voegelin, of course, took recourse to the Christian mystics many times in his works and was much attuned to the mystical elements in St. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas. There are many obiter dicta, assembled by by Ellis Sandoz in his introduction to this panel. But, to my knowledge, Voegelin did not undertake a structural analysis of the Christian mystical
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Conference Presentations by Peter von Sivers
Papers by Peter von Sivers