Winner of the 2009 Albert Hourani Book Award, Middle East Studies Association This is an impressive and original contribution to the knowledge of Islam's intellectual history.
M. Swartz, Choice Vasalou's [book] is a lively and often labyrinthine analysis of thinkers who have received little attention in Western intellectual circles... Readers ... who wish to engage the Islamic tradition ... Read moreof moral thought, ... if they have sufficient background, will find it a rich interpretive resource that may be of great use to them in their own endeavors.
Jamie Schillinger, Philosophy in Review Sophia Vasalou's book provides an important window into the moral economy of Mu'tazilite thinking... Vasalou has deftly brought to the fore a much misread ethical viewpoint of the Islamic intellectual tradition. Her book stands as an invaluable contribution to the study of Islamic theology in general and Basran Mu'tazilism in particular.
Martin Nguyen, Review of Middle East Studies Vasalou has written an impressive book, one evidencing extensive reading in Mu'tazilite (and Ash'arite) sources and extensive thinking about the questions of moral theory with which it deals... Deserving of emulation is the thought and imagination that she has put into her work. This is in many respects a brilliant work, one that stands out from the (admittedly small) crowd. It has set me thinking harder about Mu'tazilite moral theory, and for that I am grateful.
Aron Zysow, Journal of the American Oriental Society Show Less