Being, Consciousness, and the Self
In April of 2024, The CU Mediterranean Studies Group invited Muhammad U. Faruque of the University of Cincinnati to 兔子先生传媒文化作品. Dr. Faruque is a philosopher whose research lies at the intersection of philosophy, science, and environmental studies, especially in relation to the Islamic intellectual tradition. The CU Mediterranean Studies Group hosted three events with Dr. Faruque. On April 15, Dr. Faruque led a workshop for graduate students titled 鈥淭he Problem of Being: Contemporary Discussions of Ontology in Islamic Philosophy.鈥 In this workshop, Dr. Faruque lead students in a guided reading of Muhammad Husayn Tabatabai鈥檚 defense 鈥渢he primacy of being鈥 and 鈥渢he gradation of being鈥 in Bidayat al-hikma. On April 16, Dr. Faruque delivered a guest lecture in RLST 2202 titled 鈥淥pening Pandora鈥檚 Box: AI, ChatGPT, and the Mystery of Consciousness.鈥 In this lecture, Dr. Faruque argued that it is impossible to create AI with human-level consciousness. In contrast to most contemporary theories of consciousness, he argued that consciousness is always fundamental, at once self-luminous and self-cognizant. Furthermore, he argued that the problem of AI hinges on how we define our values, which ultimately determine what it means to be human in a technocratic world. On April 16, Dr. Faruque delivered a scholarly talk titled 鈥淪culpting the Self: Islam, Selfhood, and Human Flourishing鈥 based on his highly acclaimed book Sculpting Selves (University of Michigan Press, 2021), which addresses 鈥渨hat it means to be human鈥 in a secular, post-Enlightenment world by exploring notions of selfhood and subjectivity in Islamic and non-Islamic philosophical literatures, including modern philosophy and neuroscience. Weaving together insights from several disciplines, including religious studies, philosophy, anthropology, critical theory, and neuroscience, and arguing against views that narrowly restrict the self to a set of cognitive functions and abilities, Dr. Faruque proposed a multidimensional account of the self that offers new options for addressing central issues in the contemporary world, including spirituality, human flourishing, and meaning in life. These three events attracted a range of faculty and students on campus. By supporting these events, CAS helped advance the goal of Mediterranean Studies to explore categories of historical and cultural analysis that present alternatives to established national, civilizational, and continental paradigms and emphasize conflict, exchange, and interaction among diverse ethnic, religious, and cultural collectives as a force behind innovation and historical development in a wide range of human endeavors.