A Discussion of the Book *Old Concepts and New Thought* in the Speech and Thought Series

The book *Old Concepts and New Thought* seeks to concretely examine the origins of the public sphere of thought in the Qajar era and the influence of this thought on the intellectual structure of the Iranian Constitutional Revolution. This work can also be considered a theoretical reflection on the manner in which old intellectual concepts were present in the Constitutional era and an examination of the capacity of these concepts to convey an awareness of the conditions of the new age. Whether the concepts and vocabulary inherited from tradition during the Constitutional period possessed an inner force capable of generating a new arena through dialectical transformation, or whether, on the contrary, tradition had become so sterile that it had lost any capacity to produce new thought, are among the most important questions addressed in this book. In this regard, the author has structured his book on two levels. He first addresses the ideas themselves and then turns to the bearers of these ideas in the Constitutional era. Following theoretical preliminaries at the beginning of his book, Abadian, in 12 chapters, deals with topics such as the various intellectual domains in the early Qajar period, the idea of Islamic unity and its position vis-à-vis the other, the persistence of the tradition of ancient thought in the Constitutional era, the reconstruction of the content of the old intellectual system within the framework of constitutionalism, the delineation of the locus of dispute in the religious discourse of the Constitutional era and Sheikh Ismail Mahallati, and the formation of constitutional political thought. The transformation from old to new in Naini's political thought, the challenges between the Marja's and constitutionalist intellectuals, religion and politics in the thought of Sheikh Hossein Ardabili, constitutionalism in the political thought of Sheikh Hossein Yazdi, and the existence and nature of the West from the perspective of Haji Agha Shirazi are other topics discussed and examined in the chapters of this book.

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Audio of Dr. Hossein Abadian's talk at this session

Audio of Engineer Golrokhian's talk at this session

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A Discussion of the Book *Old Concepts and New Thought* (A Theoretical Introduction to the Iranian Constitution)

The Speech and Thought Series – Session No. 25 – July 2018

Shiraz – Qasrodasht Street, Alley 39, No. 50, Office of the Union of People Party, Fars Region

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