"Reception of Continental Philosophy in Iran"

This paper is part of a broader project to study the evolution of modern philosophical Persian from the late 19th century to the present. More specifically it will discuss the introduction and reception of modern continental philosophy in Iran during this time period. From a comparative perspective the paper will also examine a number of linguistic and historical debates that have often recurred in the Middle East regarding the impact of western ideas—such as the question of translation and its varied impact on intellectual history. In this paper particular attention will be given to the early introduction of rationalism (notably Descartes) and critical philosophy (Kant and later Hegel), followed by Marxism (mostly through a Russia route), and in later periods existentialism, phenomenology, and hermeneutics. Further attention will be given to the intellectual background and textual style of individual translators and commentators, from early figures such as Mollâ Lâlezâr Hamadâni, Badi’ al-Molk Mirzâ, Vosuq al-Dowleh, and Mohammad-Ali Forughi to later authors such as Yahyâ Mahdavi, Hamid Enâyat, Ezzatollâh Fulâdvand, Mir-Shamseddin Adib-Soltâni, Abdolkarim Rashidiân, Manuchehr Sâne’i-Darrebidi, and Siâvash Jomâdi, among others, who translated or commented on works by Kant, Hegel, Dilthey, Husserl, Heidegger, and others. The paper will also discuss available literature in print and the readership of modern continental philosophy in Iran, including both the general educated audience as well as the academic and seminary circles and will discuss contributing variables in the relative popularity of continental, rather than analytic, philosophy in Iran. On the whole this paper will present a discussion about sources, the style and diction of individual translators and commentators together with their diverse approach to the linguistic capital of philosophical Persian, usage of Arabic, attempts to ‘purify’ Persian, and the question of ideology in the reception of modern continental philosophy in Iran.