The Debate of the Self and the Other in Hassan Hanafi's Civilizational Project

Abstract

This research addresses one of the central and pivotal issues in Hassan Hanafi’s thought: the problem of the dialectic of the self and the other. The study begins with an exploration of the concept of the self in Hanafi’s philosophy, as it represents an expression of the civilizational and cultural identity of the nation, in contrast to the other, which reflects Western civilization and its persistent pursuit of intellectual and cultural hegemony. The research focuses on analyzing Hanafi’s critical view of Orientalism and his call for the establishment of a science of Occidentalism, as an attempt to understand the West and critique it from an Arab-Islamic perspective. This contributes to achieving epistemological balance and correcting the prevailing notion that the West alone is the center, by advocating the transformation of the West from the studying subject to the studied object. The study also discusses the nature of the relationship between the self and the other, which is based on civilizational interaction while preserving cultural specificity and Islamic identity. The research concludes that Hanafi’s project represents a serious intellectual attempt to restore the value of the Arab-Islamic self and to build a civilizational consciousness founded on critical cooperation with the other, avoiding both isolation and assimilation, thereby contributing to a balanced intellectual and civilizational renaissance.