A Comparative study between Muhammad Iqbal’s and Robert Browning’s Concerns with free-will versus determinism within the contexts of aestheticism and ethics

Mohd Ramli, Aimillia (2012) A Comparative study between Muhammad Iqbal’s and Robert Browning’s Concerns with free-will versus determinism within the contexts of aestheticism and ethics. In: The 7th Malaysia International Conference on Languages, Literatures, and Cultures Organised by, 10-11 July 2012, Putrajaya-Pullman Hotel. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

The great Muslim poet-philosopher Muhammad Iqbal was perhaps full of admiration for the Victorian poet Robert Browning when, in Reconstructions of Religious Thoughts in Islam, he mentions that that the later “turns the impossibility [of absolute knowledge] to ethical use by a very ingenious argument. The uncertainty of human knowledge, teaches the poet, is a necessary condition of moral growth; since complete knowledge will destroy the liberty of human choice.” Yet stark contrasts exist between the two men’s conception of “human choice” or free-will. This is partly because the attention to man’s struggles with his own Self in order to know the world and his active reaction to it in Browning’s poem is often bereft of any guiding principle, leading his protagonists sometimes to experience moral depravity and, at other times, disillusionment. Iqbal’s concept of Free-will, however, sees it as a divine gift that is to be used with balance, amongst other things, in order to serve Allah (S.W.T.). This paper argues that this provides a solution to traditional opposition between aestheticism and ethics, since for a character to assert his free-will does not ultimately mean he is essentially “immoral” and the literary work lacks aesthetic value.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Full Paper)
Additional Information:	2219/25588
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BH Aesthetics B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BL Religion P Language and Literature > PE English
Kulliyyahs/Centres/Divisions/Institutes (Can select more than one option. Press CONTROL button):	Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences > Department of English Language & Literature
Depositing User:	Dr. Aimillia Mohd Ramli
Date Deposited:	27 Aug 2012 14:04
Last Modified:	27 Aug 2012 14:04
URI:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/id/eprint/25588

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