The Spirit of Modernity and the Epistemologies of the South: Taha Abderrahmane's Ethical Critique of Western Modernity

Fatimaezzahra Abid, Ph.D holder, Mohammed V university

This paper interrogates the relationship between Western modernity and the quest for pluralistic alternatives in global political thought. Rather than treating modernity as a singular Western phenomenon, it draws on Taha Abderrahmane's distinction between the abstract "spirit of modernity" and its specific Western application. Abderrahmane argues modernity's universalist spirit consists of three principles—maturity, encompassing, criticism—which Western civilization applied but betrayed by reducing human agency to instrumental rationality and valorizing external freedom over ethical cultivation. This Western paradigm is not the only possible modernity; Islamic thought offers an alternative rooted in ethical trusteeship (al-i?timaniyya) that preserves renewal while avoiding the violence and epistemic domination accompanying Western modernity's expansion. This paper reads Abderrahmane's project as contributing to Boaventura de Sousa Santos's "epistemologies of the South"—knowledges born resisting colonialism. Santos's "abyssal line," rendering non-Western knowledges invisible, frames how Western modernity subordinates epistemological alternatives. Where Western universalism demands conformity to its historical application, Abderrahmane offers modernity rooted in Islamic tradition yet open to cross-civilizational dialogue. His three principles ethically re-ground reason, recovering its capacity for contemplation (ta?ammul) and trusteeship (i?timan). The paper contributes to debates on modernity's collapse, positioning Abderrahmane within epistemologies of the South to demonstrate how Arab-Islamic thought provides resources for decentering Western modernity without abandoning its universal aspirations. The study argues pluralistic global order requires moving beyond both false Western universalism and reactive particularism that merely inverts it. Drawing on Abderrahmane, the paper calls for "alternative thinking of alternatives"—engagement acknowledging diverse traditions' ethical depth while seeking mutual enrichment across the North-South divide. In an era of reconfiguring global power, such tradition-grounded frameworks offer pathways toward cognitive justice and genuine epistemic pluralism.

No extended abstract or paper available

 Presented in Session 82. Global Modernities and Alternative Epistemologies