The problem of «Ego» in M. Iqbal religious philosophy

Abstract

Muhammed Iqbal is duly considered to be one of the most famous thinkers of the Islamic world. In spite of his profound knowledge of the Western culture and philosophy, in his writings he always spoke of the traditional Islamic outlook, albeit in an innovative philosophical parlance. Everywhere and everytime did the philosopher refer to himself as a mouthpiece of the Islamic, and not Western way of understanding things. The core of his philosophical approach is his conception of «Ego» redolent of the «Monad» conception by G. Leibtnitz. Sometimes this conception assumes the shape of God, at other times – the shape of man, at some other times – the shape of material atoms of the Universe. The most important detail here is the rational nature of the «Ego», which means that everything in our Universe – the religious feelongs included - can well be subject of scientific or philosophical investigation. It is through the conception of the «Ego» that Iqbal, although accepting the priority of religion as far as the knowledge of the Ultimate Reality is concerned, does not envisage any contradiction between the religious and philosophical approaches toward the investigation of the world.