The Book of Ishtar: on Dress and the Body

The Center for Arab Unity Studies published The Book of Ishtar: on Dress and the Body by Dr. Nassif Nassar.

Ishtar said “I heard him, for the first time, giving a public lecture on philosophy and everyday life”, she added “My feelings were shaken with amazement and joy, and my eyes were opened to a new way of thinking about my life. In the depths of my soul, a bright, overwhelming desire arose, coming from afar, as if it was a message from heaven”.

Ishtar sought to fulfill her desire, so this book came as a first fruit, remarkable for more than one consideration, especially with regard to the Arab cultural field, a philosophical dialogue about the phenomenon of dress and its accessories and its place in people’s lives in general, a rich and interesting dialogue, reminiscent of Plato’s immortal dialogues, while he was preoccupied  with the concerns, problems, contradictions and transformations of our time.

Thus, this book, in its graceful dialogic style, enters into the discussion and analysis of topics that are rarely discussed in such a comprehensive manner in Arab philosophy. From the issue of dress, it enters into various philosophical issues, including issues of the self, the body and the ego, issues of nudity, beauty and happiness, values ​​and morals, culture and art, and gender equality.

The subject of dress in this dialogue text emerging in the works of Nassif Nassar combines at least three dimensions: dress in its social dimension, dress in its individual dimension, and dress in its commodity dimension. So, the dialogue between these dimensions expands to discuss the issue of dress and nudity, starting from the major problems that Nassif Nassar has always discussed and analyzed, foremost among which is the problem of integration and conflict between human individuality and sociality, upon which another problem is built related to the freedom of the individual and the limits of this freedom in its social dimension.