INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM
LOVE (ʿisq),
FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE - FROM METAPHOR TO TRUTH
Symposium Introduction
Love, which denotes “a pronounced and exaggerated affection; complete devotion to the beloved; the state of being too fond of someone/something to see anything else”, is a word that signifies a passionate inclination towards a person or an object. It is commonly accepted to derive from the root ashaka which signifies the ivy plant, since exaggerated love is believed to make the lover pine away and even cause his/her death, just as the ivy plant, winding around the trunk of a tree, suffocates it.
No movement or scientific activity that intends, both in theory and practice, to understand human beings could ever remain indifferent to love. As a consequence, it is legitimate to say that love is among the most fundamental phenomena which relate to the life of a human being. Because a human being is not merely a material or rational being that positions himself/herself according to cause and effect relationship between phenomena. On the contrary, he/she has a spiritual and emotional aspect that cannot be overlooked and an inner world which usually predominates his/her outer world. For this reason, it can be said that this spiritual side of a human being usually predominates his/her rational side.
Man can sometimes approach the question of his own existence, of other beings, objects or particular situations in a problematic manner, whether it be from a rational or a spiritual point of view, and thus can assign both rational and spiritual or even irrational meanings to a particular being, an object or a situation. As a matter of fact, there is no doubt that love has the most prominent place in man’s world when everything that he deems meaningful is examined. For this reason, love deserves to be the focus point of intellectual endeavor and to be examined with academic instruments. As a consequence, with the aim of exploring love’s manifestations in all walks of human life, ÇOMÜ Faculty of Divinity and Üsküdar University Institute of Sufi Studies decided to organize a symposium with the title “Love, From Theory to Practice – From Metapher to Truth.” The symposium is open to studies coming from the fields of Humanities, Social Sciences, Physical Sciences, Art and Aesthetics. We are looking very much forward to your contributions and would like to thank you in advance.
