Ibn Khaldun's Philosophy of History: A Study in the Philosophic Foundation of the Science of Culture - Muhsin Mahdi

This work examines the philosophic foundation and principles of Ibn Khaldun's new science of culture, to show that an adequate understanding of his contribution to the study of the various aspects of human society requires an understanding of his all-comprehensive approach to sociology. Have our historical and cultural sciences made philosophy superfluous, or are they themselves, on the contrary, in dire need of a philosophical foundation? This book attempts to clarify this problem through the study of perhaps the only great thinker who considered the problems of history and culture, and founded a special science to deal with them, based on the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle and their Muslim followers. This is the first study of Ibn Khaldun in which is not an apology either for the modern social sciences of for the 'modern character of Ibn Khaldun's thought, but a thoroughgoing analysis and interpretation of his text. Ibn Khaldun founded a special science to deal with the problem of history and culture based on the philosophies of Plato, Aristotle and their Muslim followers.