With Merkel's Foes in Disarray, Germany Defies the Trump Trend

[Dill]

(05-05-2017, 11:33 AM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: OK, can you please define the traits that one must possess to be, in your opinion, a scholar.

Also, could you please provide an example or two of a person who you believe is one.  I'm betting Noam Chomsky makes the list.

Not in "my opinion," but traits of scholars as internationally recognized by institutions like universities, think tanks, governments, and international research organizations--sure, I can do that.

Well Noam Chomsky certainly is. Whose list would he not be on?

But since we have been talking about Sam Harris and Middle Eastern issues, I am going to stick to that theme. I have already mentioned some in previous posts, like Edward Said and Bernard Lewis and Azizah Y. Al-Hibri.

1. In the March 2014 issue of Journal of Contemporary Iraq Studies, Guenther Cristoph published "The land of the two rivers under the black banner: Visual communication of al-Qaida in Iraq," an article which examines modes of visual communication deployed by the Islamic state evolved over the last two decades, and how these embed their contemporary message in traditional Arab Muslim narratives to acquire authority.  This is a peer-reviewed journal, and any publication in it has to pass the review of 3-4 area experts. One "trait" of what I am calling scholarship is that it passes such reviews. http://www.ingentaconnect.com/contentone/intellect/ijcis/2014/00000008/00000001/art00003;jsessionid=f2n6xf8nq0o6.x-ic-live-02  His primary audience would be Iraq/Islam scholars, but the work would also be of interest to intel professionals of the US and Europe.

2.  Another example would be Peter Adamson, currently on the faculty of ancient philosophy at the Ludwig-Maxmilliens Universitaet in Munich. His Al-Kindi (2006) introduces advanced students and scholars to the work of a 9th century Arab scholar who translated many Greek works into Arabic, stimulating a Greek "renaissance" in Arabic philosophy over the next four centuries. https://www.amazon.com/Al-Kindi-Great-Medieval-Thinkers-Adamson/dp/0195181433  To accomplish this work, he must move from ancient Greek to Syrian Arabic and back. In addition, he edits other serious work dedicated to Greek and Arabic philosophy of the Medieval period. His audience is largely other scholars, and his work fills out "gaps" in the contemporary field of ancient philosophy studies--gaps only known to and discussed by other scholars. Scholarship conserves the past and makes it relevant to the present.


3. Not all scholarship is addressed to other scholars. In post #119 and above I mention Azizah Y. Al-Hibri, a legal scholar at the University of Richmond. She is currently editing a series of works on Islamic jurisprudence to help inform the general (Western) public about that subject. She has written the first volume herself. The Islamic Worldview: Islamic Jurisprudence―An American Muslim Perspective https://www.amazon.com/dp/1627222847/?tag=newbooinhis-20  This work is not only to enable Muslims to learn about their own tradition, but also Westerners seeking to understand the grounds and logic of the four schools of Islamic Jurisprudence--in a way that passes muster with other scholarly experts in this subject area.

A primary trait that 1-3 above also foreground is LEARNING. A scholar must know his/her subject matter in depth, including the requisite languages. If Al-Hibri wants to write a book about what she thinks of neuroscience, it might be interesting, but I doubt neuroscientists would consider it an addition to the field or even pay much attention to it.

To cap this off, I want, by way of contrast, to offer an example of something which is manifestly not "scholarly." Bridget Gabriel's Why they Hate is the personal account of an Americanized Lebanese Christian who travels the world denouncing Islam in toto. "History" in her book is just Muslims doing bad things. Always. No history or context necessary.
https://www.amazon.com/Because-They-Hate-Survivor-Islamic/dp/0312358385/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1494003543&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=bridgett+gabrial  The book is not for scholars, but for the ignorant and haters. She created the website ACT, from which Oklahoma representative John Bennett collected the "questions" for his poll of Muslims in Oklahoma back in 2013. http://kfor.com/2017/03/05/oklahoma-lawmaker-receiving-backlash-after-asking-muslim-students-to-fill-out-hateful-questionnaire-before-meeting-with-them/ "Do you beat your wife? Must Muslims rule over Kafir? It says so right here."

Now if we bring Sam Harris into the picture, is his work more like 1-3 or more like Gabriel's?  I'd say it was more like Gabriel's. He is sharing his personal thoughts on Islam, incorporating it into a pre-existing argument for atheism, and supporting it with quotations of translated English which, combined with some news media reports, are enough for him to distill the essence of Islam. There is no evidence that he understands Islam or the history of the Middle East beyond what one would learn from the Israeli state's websites or Wikislam. He does not understand how texts are read differently through different traditions and in differing historical and cultural contexts.  How would Middle East scholars respond to his website? Would they say his musings advance knowledge of Islam or Middle East history? Who is his audience? I think there is considerable overlap with Gabriel's.

1-3 above are not really suitable for supporting arguments in internet forums. Especially 1 and 2, they presume too much knowledge already. Using them would be "boring."  But Harris' work presumes virtually no knowledge of Islam or Middle Eastern history, and lends itself easily to such purposes.  He has a Ph.D in neuroscience, right? A smart guy to tell you all about Islam.