Philosophical Sufism and Byzantine Platonism: Convergences and Divergences

You are cordially invited to the upcoming lecture in the Nafi Baba Sufism Talks Series titled "Philosophical Sufism and Byzantine Platonism: Convergences and Divergences" by Samet Budak. Please find attached the announcement poster.

The talk is scheduled to take place in Nafi Baba Building 103 on December 10, 2024, at 17:00. Additionally, the lecture will be live-streamed via the following link: bit.ly/SufismTalks

ABSTRACT:

In the late Middle Ages, the greater Mediterranean and the Islamicate world formed an interconnected space of knowledge production, where ideas and thinkers circulated in multidirectional and complex patterns. This movement defies simplistic models of one-sided influence or linear transmission; instead, it reveals a dynamic structure of exchange, translation, and adaptation. However, contemporary historiography often remains constrained by conventional frameworks and modern anxieties, limiting our understanding of intellectual history, especially the history of philosophical ideas.

This lecture explores new avenues of research by examining two seemingly disparate intellectual traditions of the period: philosophical Sufism and Byzantine Platonism. Despite their apparent differences, these traditions shared a common intellectual idiom facilitated by their common heritage going back to late antiquity and, more significantly, by active networks of thinkers and ideas across ethnic, linguistic, and religious boundaries. By analyzing these interactions, this presentation will reflect on the labels of "philosophical Sufism" and "Platonism," exploring their limits and reconsidering thematic commonalities such as metaphysical positions, political ideas, and broader worldviews.

Ultimately, this lecture seeks to illuminate the global and interconnected intellectual landscape of the 14th and 15th centuries, using the case studies of Byzantine Platonism and philosophical Sufism to demonstrate the complex epistemic exchanges that shaped this vast geography.

BIO:

Samet Budak is a historian of the Ottoman Empire, focusing on the intersection of Mediterranean, Islamic, Ottoman, Byzantine, and Renaissance studies, particularly in intellectual and cultural histories during the late medieval and early modern periods. He is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations at Koç University, Istanbul. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan in 2024, with a dissertation titled A Mediterranean Episteme: Intellectual Networks and Interconnected Knowledge Production in the Eastern Mediterranean (1350-1500). His articles appeared in venues including Muqarnas, Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Der Islam, and al-Usur al-Wusta. He is currently developing two monographs: one exploring the interconnected intellectual histories of the broader Mediterranean, and another examining Ottoman patronage of Greek literature and its link with statecraft.