Ibn Khaldoun

Civilisations rise and fall with the strength of their solidarity.

Philosophy of history1332 – 1406 TunisiaHistorianThinker of society and historyMaliki judge (qadi)Statesman

Inspirations

Aristote "man is political by nature", which he quotes to found his science

Al-Mas'udithe historian he admires and constantly corrects

Al-Ghazali the critique of the philosophers and the place of Sufism

Avicenne the metaphysics he refutes

Heirs

Katip Çelebi et Naima17th-century Ottoman historians who applied his cycles to the Ottoman Empire

Montesquieu climate and the customs of peoples (a comparison, no proven influence)

Hegel a history that progresses instead of going round in circles (a comparison)

Arnold Toynbeethe rise and fall of civilisations

Ernest Gellner et Peter Turchintake up asabiyya to study societies and empires

how it is computed

Closest

Léon Tolstoï At fifty he saw no meaning in anything; he found it again in the faith of simple people.

Al-Ghazali Reason has limits: certainty comes from experiencing God.

Francis Bacon Knowledge is power: observe and experiment.

Furthest

Richard Rorty Talk of sensations might one day disappear, replaced by the language of neuroscience.

Michael Martin The arguments for God's existence fail, and there are good reasons not to believe.