Denken

19:10 Apr 5, 2012 

an ongoing individual or group process, "thought" a — mostly — set body of ideas. As "islamisches Denken" here exists for some period of time in the ST, "thinking" here would be too dynamic.

15:54 Apr 5, 2012 

it must be differentiated in the text, at least the era or time-frame the subject lived/died in. Even if it is current, or modern, the man is a role-model, as far as I can decipher, so he influenced modern Islamic thought (ideology).

15:36 Apr 5, 2012 

Helen and Ramey, I agree with both of you. The links that Helen posted shows the exact differentiation I need. Helen, it is indeed the current thinking that is meant here. There really isn't much context to give. As noted, the previous sentence refers to this person's death. The next one goes on to a different subject entirely. If there were more context I wouldn't have the problem. :-))

15:06 Apr 5, 2012 

Thinking is active, progressive, here and now. Thought, in combination with Islamic, considers the doctrine and its manifestations in everyday life. (Which is actually ideology :-))

13:34 Apr 5, 2012 

13:33 Apr 5, 2012 

13:31 Apr 5, 2012 

I would translate this as 'thought'. If you use 'thinking' it runs the risk of making it sound as if it is merely the CURRENT thinking on a particular issue, whereas 'thought' is more permanent. But then it depends on the surrounding context, and you give us so little to go on.

12:30 Apr 5, 2012 

We follow an ideology that has been passed on or taught to us by a "master" or suchlike. The Islamic ideology influences much more than just thinking and we act and react with much more than our mental capacity. OF course, much more context would be needed to decide if this an ideology (idea!) or a "thinking" which only vaguely reflects our actions. Perhaps the Islamic idea? But then he wouldn't have been a Muslim.

11:15 Apr 5, 2012 

Ramey, in this case I would see ideology as a synonym of "thought", because Webster also defines thought: the way of thinking of a class, culture or individual.

11:13 Apr 5, 2012 

Thank you for your hair splitting! This is just what I need. It's really helping. I agree with you, David. The outside world's engagement with this person is definitely not philosophical, but in imitating him. That makes me lean toward "thinking" and away from "thought".

11:11 Apr 5, 2012 

is what influences and forms us. According to Webster's: ..the way of thinking of a class, culture or individual

11:04 Apr 5, 2012 

Response to response: I don't think it necessarily matters whether this person was influential through his thinking or through his actions - the fact that he was/is influential at all is the key point. The "Denken" refers to the outside world's engagement with him, not vice versa.

I see a barber shop's worth of split hairs before me ;)

11:04 Apr 5, 2012 

sounds good to me metargemet :-)

11:00 Apr 5, 2012 

Actually the previous sentence refers to the death of this person. But rus_cat's comment helps: he is a ruler and not a scholar or philosopher, so it was his actions that influenced "Islamisches Denken" not his ideas.

11:00 Apr 5, 2012 

Thinking about it some more (no pun intended), I'd be inclined to go with "thinking", precisely because it does in this instance describe an ongoing process of engagement that is open to the influence of "So-und-so".

10:54 Apr 5, 2012 

Hi, would agree with David but would add that it might help to clarify whether the context prior to this sentence refers to philosophical or intellectual ideas - "thought" - or the events/history that drove the development of these - "thinking". Feel free to share the previous sentence if it would help.

10:47 Apr 5, 2012 

I personally would distinguish between the two by saying that "thinking" describes the ongoing process and "thought" describes the product(s) of that process. Whether this is truly the case, and which is the more appropriate word, I do not know.

10:45 Apr 5, 2012 

OOOPs! Sorry for the typos! Here's the correct sentence: "I will only consider answers that clearly define the difference between the two, "thinking" and "thought", in this context.