This is an updated and revised version of a talk delivered originally at Chisholme House, Scotland in 2017.
This talk will consider the vital role of the Creative Imagination in Natural Science and in the Mystical Philosophy of Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi.
Ibn Arabi is regarded ‘As the greatest Muslim theoretician of the Imagination.’ (William C. Chittick)
And Einstein said: Imagination is more important than Knowledge.
We shall explore these ideas in relation to the nature of that knowledge whose foundation expresses itself as the very core of human potential, inspiration and creativity.
Peter Coates is the author of "Ibn 'Arabi and Modern Thought" (2002), the first book to systematically examine modern thought in the light of the universal vision of Ibn 'Arabi. He was Senior Lecturer in the Department of Psychology at the University of Lincoln, where he taught courses in the philosophy of psychology. He has been studying the works of Ibn ‘Arabi for 40 years.
Images on Heading: Newton with prism, statue of Yunus Emre in Istanbul, cover of recent translation of Ibn Arabi's "Alchemy of Human Happiness, the Indian mathematical genius Ramanujan.
