Transnationalism in Iranian Political Thought: The Life and Times of Ahmad Fardid (The Global Middle East, Series Number 1)

During The Iranian Revolution Of 1978/9, The Influence Of Public Intellectuals Was Widespread. Many Espoused A Vision Of Iran Freed From The Influences Of 'westtoxification', Inspired By Heideggerian Concepts Of Anti-western Nativism. By Following The Intellectual Journey Of The Iranian Philosopher Ahmad Fardid, Ali Mirsepassi Offers In This Book An Account Of The Rise Of Political Islam In Modern Iran. Through His Controversial Persona And Numerous Public And Private Appearances Before, During And Particularly After The Revolution, Fardid Popularised An Islamist Vision Militantly Hostile To The Modern World That Remains A Fundamental Part Of The Political Philosophy Of The Islamic Republic To This Day. By Also Bringing Elements Of Fardid's Post-revolutionary Thought, As Well As A Critical Analysis Of Foucault's Writings On 'the Politics Of Spirituality', Mirsepassi Offers An Essential Read For All Those Studying The Evolution Of Political Thought And Philosophy In Modern Iran And Beyond-- Machine Generated Contents Note: Part I. Introduction: Introduction. Islam After Fall: Why Fardid Matters; 1. The Historical Context: The Intellectual's Modern Calling; 2. 'home' And The 'world': 'the Swallows Return To Their Nest'; Part Ii. The World Of Young Fardid: 3. Young Fardid (1935-46); 4. Henry Corbin's 'imaginative Spirituality' And Iranian 'gharbzadegi' (westoxication); Part Iii. Orientatlism And 'spiritual Islam': Fardid, Corbin, Foucault: 5. Gharbzadegi (westoxication); 6. The Politics Of Spirituality: Foucault, The Iranian Revolution; Part Iv. Ahmad Fardid's Philosophy After The Revolution, 1978-81: 7. The Divine Encounter And Apocalyptic Revelations; 8. A Reckless Mind: Policies Of Gharbzadegi; Part V. Fardid Remembered: 9. Interviews With Fardid's Friends And Critics; Conclusion. Fardid After Fardid. Ali Mirsepassi. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 375-381) And Index. Transnationalism in Iranian Political Thought: The Life and Times of Ahmad Fardid 4 Contents 6 List of Illustrations 8 Acknowledgments 9 Note on Transliteration 10 Chronology of Ahmad Fardid’s Life and Work 11 Part I: Introduction 14 Introduction. Islam after the Fall: Why Fardid Matters 16 Fardid’s Romance with the West 23 Politics of the Imaginary 25 1 The Historical Context: The Intellectual’s Modern Calling 38 Messianic Visions of Modernity 46 2 “Home” and the “World”: “The Swallows Return to Their Nest”? 53 The Cosmopolitans 55 The Radical Modernists 56 The Search for Identity 58 Conclusion: “The Swallows Return to their Nest”? 72 Part II: The World of the Young Fardid 78 3 The Young Fardid (1935–1946) 80 Fardid’s Published Writings 89 Erfan and Modern Knowledge 91 Fardid and Bergsonian Philosophy 101 Bergson and Elm-e Hozuri [“Intuitive Knowledge”] 107 “From Kant to Heidegger” 113 Conclusion 122 4 Henry Corbin’s “Imaginative Spirituality” and Iranian “Westoxification” 124 Fardid Meets Corbin 124 Henry Corbin’s Iran 130 Corbin’s Apolitical Life 131 The Marvelous Convergence 132 Corbin’s Disdain for the Secular 135 The Imaginal and Suhrawardi 138 The Primacy of Philosophy 141 Meeting the “Master” 146 Corbin and His Post-Metaphysical Other 150 Conclusion 152 Part III: Orientalism and “Spiritual Islam”: Fardid, Corbin, Foucault 158 5 Gharbzadegi (Westoxification) 160 Fardid in Europe 160 Fardid’s “Islamic” Critique of Orientalism 166 Post- or Pre-Colonialism 177 6 The Politics of Spirituality: Foucault and the Iranian Revolution 179 Debate on Foucault and the Iranian Revolution 181 Foucault and the “Politics of Spirituality” 197 The Imaginary Islam 203 Ontological versus Sociological 206 Self-Creation over Knowledge 207 The Iranian Revolution and Postmodern Mysticism 210 Foucault, Corbin, and the Mystical Unconscious 214 Empirical History and the Discursive Universe 217 Foucault and Sufism 221 Orientalism Reconsidered 224 Part IV: Ahmad Fardid’s Philosophy after the Revolution, 1978–1981 228 7 Fardid’s Philosophy: The Divine Encounter and Apocalyptic Revelations 230 Introduction 230 The Divine Encounter? 235 Elm al-Asma (Etymology) 236 Intuition and “Reason” (Elm-e Hozuri va Hosuli) 243 Philosophy of History (Havalat-e Tarikhi) 248 Critique of Humanism 254 On Persian Philosophers 257 Philosophy Politicized 258 On Bergson and Corbin 261 Critique of Human Sciences 266 A Manifesto in Defense of Dogmatism 270 8 A Reckless Mind: Politics of Gharbzadegi 276 Fardid and the Islamic Republic 276 Politics of Anti-Orientalism 286 Modernity as Conspiracy 290 The Constitutional Revolution 294 Politics and Sovereignty (Velayat and Valayat) 298 The Islamic Revolution and Ayatollah Khomeini 300 Critiques of Iranian Intellectuals 304 Marxist and Liberal Intellectuals 310 A Metamorphosed Fardid? 313 Part V: Fardid Remembered 318 9 Interviews with Fardid’s Friends and Critics 320 Introduction 320 The Intellectual Contribution 323 Gharbzadegi 326 Fardid’s Islam 338 Life Anecdotes 341 Philosophy Needs Power 350 Conclusion: Fardid after Fardid 358 Glossary of Names, Terms, and Events 366 Bibliography 388 Index 396 La page de garde indique : "During the Iranian Revolution of 1978/9, the influence of public intellectuals was widespread. Many espoused a vision of Iran freed from the influences of 'Westtoxification', inspired by Heideggerian concepts of anti-Western nativism. By following the intellectual journey of the Iranian philosopher Ahmad Fardid, Ali Mirsepassi offers in this book an account of the rise of political Islam in modern Iran. Through his controversial persona and numerous public and private appearances before, during and particularly after the Revolution, Fardid popularised an Islamist vision militantly hostile to the modern world that remains a fundamental part of the political philosophy of the Islamic Republic to this day. By also bringing elements of Fardid's post-revolutionary thought, as well as a critical analysis of Foucault's writings on 'the politics of spirituality', Mirsepassi offers an essential read for all those studying the evolution of political thought and philosophy in modern Iran and beyond."