Richard K. Khuri
1955 – 2021
Philosopher, Educator, Musician
Richard K. Khuri was a philosopher who sought to restore philosophy as a way of life. Born in Lebanon, educated at UC Berkeley and in philosophy under Hubert Dreyfus and Paul Feyerabend, his work bridged Eastern and Western traditions and insisted on the transformative power of beauty, nature, and direct experience.
"Philosophy started out as a way of life in the ancient world. This is what it should be, perhaps now more than ever given the turning point the world appears to have reached at many levels."
— Richard K. Khuri
Freedom, Modernity, and Islam
A philosophical examination of freedom in Western and Islamic thought, arguing that standard modernization theories fail to explain the resurgence of fundamental religion, and that only a new analysis drawing on both traditions can inspire genuine freedom in the Arab-Muslim world.