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This event will begin promptly at 17.00 BST
The term Sympathy is derived from the Greek 亮畚盈故砧肯, the state of feeling together (derived from the composite of fellow/together [僚]-feeling/passion [略慮凌]). In modern times it is used as a form of affective subjectivity exemplified by the I feel with you formula.
This talk aims to shed some light on how the notion of sympathy has been used across time and by different intellectual/religious traditions. In particular, Dr De Cillis will look at the Stoic and Neoplatonic notion of油sympatheia油highlighting how, in the late classical and early Hellenistic period, it was employed to make sense of the natural world, across a plethora of disciplines. Within Islam, the notion was adapted,油inter alia, in the intellectual systems of Ab笛 Ma平shar (d. 886) and al-Kind朝 (d. 873), and within Ismailism sympathy was employed by Fatimid scholars such as 畍am朝d油al-D朝n油al-Kirmn朝 (d. c. 1021) who integrated it within the concept of The Balance of Religion (m朝zn al-diyna).
Identified as the main force operating throughout the Cosmos and applied, as a doctrine, in Renaissance alchemy, magic and medicine, sympathy features in many Italian Renaissance thinkers such as Pico della Mirandola (d. 1494) and Gian Battista della Porta (d. 1615).
Hosted by the Institute of Ismaili Studies (London) and convened by Dr Orkhan Mir-Kasimov, the油Islamic History and Thought Lecture Series油is designed to invite scholars of various international academic institutions, specialising in intellectual, social and political aspects of medieval and early modern Islamic societies, to present and discuss their research. Watch previous lectures on our油.
Speakers
Dr Maria De Cillis
Dr Maria De Cillis油is an Associate Professor and Head of the油Shi平i Studies Unit油(Interim) in the Department of Academic Research and Publications at the IIS, where she is also the Managing Editor of the油Shi平i Heritage Series. Dr De Cillis obtained her bachelors degree (with honours) from the Faculty of Languages and Literatures in the Department of Arabic and English Studies at the Universita’ degli Studi di Napoli LOrientale, Naples, Italy. She completed her Masters in Islamic Studies (with distinction) and was awarded her PhD in Islamic Studies from the Near and Middle East Section, Faculty of Languages and Cultures, SOAS University of London.
Dr Toby Mayer
Dr Toby Mayer is a Research Associate in the油Quranic Studies Unit油at 今叔利, London. After completing his undergraduate degree in Indian Studies at the University of Cambridge, he went on to study Medieval Arabic thought at the University of Oxford, where he wrote his doctoral thesis on the油Book of Allusions油(Isharat) by the major Persian philosopher Ibn Sina.
Cover image: 畍am朝d油al-D朝n油al-Kirmn朝s油Rahat al-平aql油f. 130a. Provided by Russell Harris and the Ismaili Special Collections Unit. Ms 1454
Please note油filming and photography may take place during the event, and be used across our website, newsletters and social media accounts. These could include broad shots of the audience and lecture theatre, speakers during the talk, and of audience members participating in Q&A.油
Views expressed in this lecture are those of the presenting scholars, not necessarily of IIS, the Ismaili community or leadership. Promotion of this lecture is not an explicit endorsement of the ideas presented.
