المعركة النقدية بين محمد عابد الجابري وجورج طرابيشي حول إشكاليات اللغة والعقل العربي

Abstract

The present study aims at answering the question as to how a language sets up limits for the thought, and vice versa, by examining the response that George Tarabichi gives to Mohammed Abed al-Jabri in terms of the dialectical relationship of Arabic language and thought by which it is expressed. In his works, Tarabichi proposes a strategy for his project in criticising the Arabic mind and its achievements, and for his increasing interest in criticising the dialectical relationship between the Language and thought and their properities. On the other hand, Tarabichi has addressed “the Jabri critical project” and refuted some of Jabri’s theses. This study examines a number of aspects within the debate of the two scholars, especially in terms of their methods in approaching language, dynamics of mind, situations of humanity, dialectic of Arab-non-Arab relations and their civlizational roles, their respective contribution to the Arabo-Islamic civilization, and of whether Arabic is merely an expansion of Bedouin culture or it is an expansion of the non-Arab cultures, especially Greek, Persian, and Indian.

Keyword: Arabic Language and thought, civilization, Tarabichi, Jabri.