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About this book
Exploring the idea of Persia as a means of investigating the soul of this fascinating nation.
In 1721, the French philosopher Montesquieu posed the question, "Comment peut-on être persan?" in the title to his famous Persian Letters (Lettres persanes). After centuries of invasion, murder, destruction, authoritarian rule, decay of political theory, and increasing dissolution in Iran's politics, this volume is an investigation into what the answer to that question might be today.
The Idea of Persia explores the notion of what it is to be Persian, but not as it has been constituted in the past, with reference to the political experience of antiquity, nor as an affirmation of the secular-rational project of modernity. Rather, the book examines the question of what it is to be Persian against the backdrop of centuries in which a common, plural subjectivity of Persian-ness has been continually delayed by those who, with or without ideologies, believed in politics only as a means of ruling or of being ruled without laws and in the absence of citizenship.
The historical battle for social and political freedoms is still underway in Iran, and as the nation wrestles with the possibility of an extended period of political, social, and cultural decline, it is a timely moment to return to the perspective embodied in the enlightened thinking of figures such as the writer and three times prime minister of Iran Mohammed Ali Foroughi (1877–1942) and his vision of a country possessing rational and moral capabilities, and to a possible renaissance of social and political institutions.
The idea of Persia as it is presented here sees hope in the future as the means by which Iranians may liberate themselves from the duality of heroes and saints and remake their political mentality while staying true to an age-old idea of Persia and to freedom as a virtue that has to be taught.
In 1721, the French philosopher Montesquieu posed the question, "Comment peut-on être persan?" in the title to his famous Persian Letters (Lettres persanes). After centuries of invasion, murder, destruction, authoritarian rule, decay of political theory, and increasing dissolution in Iran's politics, this volume is an investigation into what the answer to that question might be today.
The Idea of Persia explores the notion of what it is to be Persian, but not as it has been constituted in the past, with reference to the political experience of antiquity, nor as an affirmation of the secular-rational project of modernity. Rather, the book examines the question of what it is to be Persian against the backdrop of centuries in which a common, plural subjectivity of Persian-ness has been continually delayed by those who, with or without ideologies, believed in politics only as a means of ruling or of being ruled without laws and in the absence of citizenship.
The historical battle for social and political freedoms is still underway in Iran, and as the nation wrestles with the possibility of an extended period of political, social, and cultural decline, it is a timely moment to return to the perspective embodied in the enlightened thinking of figures such as the writer and three times prime minister of Iran Mohammed Ali Foroughi (1877–1942) and his vision of a country possessing rational and moral capabilities, and to a possible renaissance of social and political institutions.
The idea of Persia as it is presented here sees hope in the future as the means by which Iranians may liberate themselves from the duality of heroes and saints and remake their political mentality while staying true to an age-old idea of Persia and to freedom as a virtue that has to be taught.
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Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Yes, you can access The Idea of Persia by Ramin Jahanbegloo in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Philosophy & Philosophy History & Theory. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
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Table of contents
- Cover
- Title
- Copyright
- Contents
- Prologue: The Land of Hidden Politics
- I. ‘Comment peut-on être persan?’
- II. Mapping Persianism
- III. The Changing Concept of the Intellectual in Iran
- IV. Muhammad Ali Foroughi: Enlightening the Idea of Persia
- V. Do Iranians Dream of Democracy?
- VI. Is Nonviolence Possible in Iran?
- Epilogue: Thinking and Acting without Heroes and Saints
- Bibliography
- Appendix I: ‘Why should one love Iran?’ by Muhammad Ali Foroughi
- Appendix II: ‘Rights in Iran’ by Muhammad Ali Foroughi
- Index
- Acknowledgements