Absar Ahmad

Absar Ahmad (born 1945) is a distinguished Pakistani philosopher.He was born in Hisar, Haryana, (India). He took the degrees of B.A (Hons) and M.A in philosophy from Karachi University, and then went to the United Kingdom for further studies in philosophy. He obtained his M.Phil from the University of Reading (Berkshire) and PhD from the University of London. Coming back to Pakistan, Dr Absar Ahmad began to teach philosophy at the philosophy department of University of the Punjab Lahore. He has been chairperson of the philosophy department twice. Also, he has been visiting professor at universities in Uganda, USA and Pakistan. In addition to academic preoccupations he is honorary director of "Quran Academy" Lahore.

Prof Absar Ahmad was trained in the tradition of analytic philosophy. Despite this he is a great admirer of idealistic "metaphysics" and believes in the ancient concept of philosophy that combines knowledge with practice. In "epistemology" he is inclined towards rationalism but he does not ignore the limitations of reason following al-Ghazali. He asserts the primacy of faith to gain the knowledge of something. He vindicates the placement of the foundation of modern Muslim philosophy on al-Ghazali's thought rather than on Ibn-Rushd's. Moreover, he has made great contributions in philosophy of mind, philosophy of religion, moral philosophy and Islamic philosophy.

Dr Absar Ahmad, Iqbal professor, has contributed to different national and international journals of philosophy. His main publications are: The Concept of Mind in Contemporary Philosophy, Kant and Kierkegaard: A Comparative Study, Knowledge Morality Nexus and a book on moral philosophy in Urdu.