Background
Nagib Mahmud, Zaki was born in 1905 in near Damietta, Egypt.
Nagib Mahmud, Zaki was born in 1905 in near Damietta, Egypt.
University of London, PhD 1947.
Member of the editorial staff of many magazines. Professor of Philosophy, University of Kuwait.
Nagib Mahmud argued for the adequacy of sensible knowledge and scientific language for describing the external world. He argued that metaphysics is a myth because it is not able to give reliable answers to factual questions. He held that when philosophy is concerned with politics, education, and humanism in general, it is grounded on ‘hypothesis’: any thinker is free to choose the principles on which he raises his theories. Since contemporary reality is characterized by continuous change and ancient authors’ assumptions are inconsistent with modernity, he favoured a reconciliation between rationalism and some of the methodological views of past thinkers such as the Mutazilites. Revival of Arabic thought needs a critical analysis of tradition: speculation must be independent of political considerations. Reason has the task of organizing the outside world from a practical point of view, while religion must fuel the ‘strategy’ of renewal from an ideal point of view.