Projektwerkstatt "Beauty and Islamic Theology"

15/12/2019 to 14/06/2021

The question of what makes something ‘beautiful’ has been a long standing area of artistic, philosophical, and theological inquiry. Throughout the passage of history, deep intimations on form, color, and harmony have motivated artists to pursue new and unexplored dimensions of aesthetic purity, impelled philosophers towards profound imaginations on the nature of beauty and the sublime, and inspired theologians to find proofs of the Divine in the natural and physical world. In almost all such discussions, an engagement with beauty has been formulated as a conduit not only to a heightened sensory experience, but also emotional, imaginative, and spiritual enlightenment.

Regrettably, however, the contemporary history of Islamic theology and the history of Islamic art have not yet brought a study of the theology of Beauty into its purview, despite its potential to illuminate understandings of both the human experience and material culture. This project aims to address this vacuum by exploring the nature, importance, and theological significance of Beauty from an interdisciplinary perspective, bringing together scholars from a diversity of intellectual backgrounds in order to open new conceptual horizons in the key areas of theology, art history, and philosophy.