Finally, I offer a grab bag of words on various subjects, to illustrate the wide range of things in everyday life that we either absolutely owe to the Arabs or for which we have borrowed words from the Arabic language. I start with something very near and dear to most of us—food. The names of many of our most common foods—artichoke and lemon, for instance—come from Arabic.[1] It was the Arabs who introduced isbanakh (spinach) into Spain, and... Read more
Back on 8 September 2020, I posted a brief blog entry (“Can the study of history yield genuine knowledge?”) in which, even more briefly, I cited a passage from Hans-Georg Gadamer, Truth and Method, 2d ed., rev., translation by Joel Weinsheimer and Donald G. Marshall (London and New York: Continuum, 2004), 4. I used that passage as a jumping-off point for a point of my own; I wasn’t attempting an exposition of Gadamerian aesthetics or of Gadamer’s overall position on... Read more
My wife and I have just returned from a private showing of the latest director’s cut of the Interpreter Foundation’s Witnesses theatrical film, at the home of its producer. The director and the other principal member of the project’s cinematographic inner circle were also there. I was very pleased. Plainly the film has profited from the discussions and comments that followed its prior screenings. Some things have been cut, some things have been added, and, overall, I... Read more
Arabic influence is clearly visible in the arts and crafts of the West. Many materials associated with Western clothing were originally of Arab design. Thus, damask, a silk or linen with a design visible from either side, is named after the great Syrian city of Damascus. Muslin, a thin cotton cloth, comes to us from Mosul, an important town in Iraq. Sicilian silk weaving, for which that island is famous, is modeled on the Arab silk industry and... Read more
No. No. Darn it, I just can’t get tonight’s ugly, toxic fiasco out of my head. The just-concluded presidential debate, in my judgment, substantially strengthened the case for (a) restoring the separation of powers between the three branches of the federal government (e.g., by shrinking the power of the executive branch), (b) greater federalism — that is, returning power from Washington DC to the states and to local communities — and (c) limiting the power of government... Read more
Sigh. Against my resolution and my better judgment, I watched the presidential debate tonight. I vowed several weeks ago that I would post no political blog entries here, and I’ve kept my promise. I will make an exception only tonight, and then I’ll return to my nonpartisan silence. I have now made my presidential choice. See above. I’m deeply troubled for my country. In his sermon A Model of Christian Charity (ca. 1630), Governor John Winthrop... Read more
Here are four quotations about science, representing quite distinct points of view, that caught my attention and that seemed to me worthy of sharing: “The public has a distorted view of science because children are taught in school that science is a collection of firmly established truths. In fact, science is not a collection of truths. It is a continuing exploration of mysteries.” ― Freeman John Dyson, FRS (1923-2020, Anglo-American theoretical physicist and mathematician, Institute for Advanced Study,... Read more
Did Arabic literature have any impact upon the literature of the West? Few people in the West would suspect that it did. Yet the answer is almost certainly yes. It has been argued, for instance, that a book written in twelfth-century Andalusia by a friend of Averroës may have served as the inspiration for Daniel Defoe’s famous novel Robinson Crusoe. The Arabic book is a short philosophical allegory entitled Hayy ibn Yaqzan (“Alive, Son of the Awake”), about... Read more
I really like this summation by the Italian theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli, which appears on page 123 of his Reality Is Not What It Seems: The Journey to Quantum Gravity, translated by Simon Carnell and Erica Segre (Penguin, 2017): There is a curved spacetime born 14 billion years ago — nobody knows how — and still expanding. This space is a real object, a physical field with its dynamics described by Einstein’s equations. Space bends and curves under... Read more
Please mark your calendars! The Temple on Mount Zion: The Fifth Interpreter Matthew B. Brown Memorial Conference Saturday, November 7, 2020 — Brigham Young University *** Also up on the website of the Interpreter Foundation: Book of Moses Insights #22: Enoch, the Prophet and Seer: Enoch’s Transfiguration (Moses 7:1–3) *** Twenty-five years ago, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued “The Family: A Proclamation to the World.” Here are three... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In