The Institute of Lebanese Thought (ILT) at Notre Dame University – Louaize (NDU) held on May 23, 2017, at the NDU main campus, a roundtable discussion on the “Systems of Whitehead’s Metaphysics in the Philosophy of Charles Malik.” Five Philosophy professors from various universities in Lebanon participated.
ILT Head Professor Emeritus Dr. Amine Albert Rihani opened the discussion by presenting the project of sorting, editing, and publishing the manuscripts and papers of the Lebanese Philosopher Charles Malik. Professor Rihani’s opening remarks was followed by the screening of a 60-minute documentary on Charle’s Malik life, academic and political positions, and the development of his interest in philosophy, and his writings, which mainly focused on modern philosophy.
The Chairperson of the Department of Religious, Cultural and Philosophical Studies at NDU Dr. Doumit Salameh chaired the first session, where Dr. Rami el-Ali (Lebanese American University) talked on the System of Principles and Dr. Hani el-Hassan (American University of Beirut) discussed the Parallel System. In the second session Dr. Jad Hatem (University St. Joseph) tackled the theme of God of Philosophers and the God of Faith and Dr. Edward Alam (NDU) discussed his stance of the Malik’s Philosophy.
At the end of the session, discussions revolved around Charles Malik’s philosophy through his book titled, The Systems of Whitehead’s Metaphysics, particularly their lack of the spiritual component, which Malik considers a key component in metaphysics.