Ali Harb

Ali Harb (Arabic: علي حرب) is a Lebanese writer, intellectual, and philosopher, he has many works and is known for his style of writings. He is influenced by Jacques Derrida, particularly with his theory of deconstruction. His book Critique of the Text is part of the curriculum in the University of Paris. He stands against elitism, intellectual fundamentalism, and formal logic which is based on holistic thinking not abstract intellectual tools and mechanisms for consideration and thought. Harb follows Kant’s approach of critiquing the mind and its mechanics and intellectual structure.

Identity Ali Harb was born in 1941 in El Babliye, South of Lebanon. He taught philosophy, which was part of the Lebanese curriculum, until he retired. Harb introduces himself in his book Identity Speech: An Intellectual Biography saying:“I am a Bedouin, a heathen, a tribal, an Arab, a Muslim, a Lebanese Shia, a Greek, a Westerner, and a French in one meaning or another. A Christian, a Jew, a Buddhist…” In an interview Harb says,“I expressed my definition of identity as a person who is open to diversity and difference, when the Civil War, which is far from over, started because of how identities are treated. The horrible experiences, successive failures, and day-to-day life made me place my identity as a Muslim Arab Lebanese on the table of criticism and dissection to reveal what is behind it of illusions, stereotypes, or narcissistic reveries. The outcome was that I developed a new conviction about the identity being its statistics and relations with others, as much as it is a web of its own changing reciprocal effects and continuous transition process. As the case for strong identities. It is its ability to communicate and engage with the other, as much as it is its capacity for constant renewal considering the transitions and impact of crises. Let alone when we are in the age of communication and interdependence, where interests and fates are intertwined.”

Works Ali Harb has about 26 books on intellect, philosophy, and Arab heritage, some of which have been printed multiple times, as well as tens of articles and studies. Here are some of his works:

Interventions, 1985 Interpretation and Truth, 1985 Love and Loss, 1990 Critique of the Truth, 1993 Critique of the Text, 1993 Identity Speech: An Intellectual Biography, 1996 Islam between Roger Garaudy and Nasr Hamid Abou Zayd, 1997. The World and its Dilemma, 2002 The Man from Below: Religious Diseases and Obstacles of Modernity, 2005 Times of Hypermodernity, 2005 The Conspiracy of Adversaries, 2008 This is How I Read: Post-Deconstruction, 2010 Interests and Fates - The Manufacturing of a Common Life, 2010 Soft Power Revolutions in the Arab world: Towards the Deconstruction of Dictatorships and Fundamentalisms, 2011 The Game of Meaning, 2012 Terrorism and its Creators, 2015