A Guide to Philosophy Websites

For some time now, a wave of studying philosophy has swept over Iran; it is natural that this wave would also encompass the internet. Large and small websites and blogs are active in this field, and many use the World Wide Web for guidance and nourishment in their area of interest. In this post, I intend to introduce philosophical websites that cater to various tastes. I hope to introduce English-language internet sites on another occasion.

Introducing Philosophical Websites:

1. "The Agora Philosophical Association" was founded by Ramin Jahanbegloo at the University of Toronto. It holds sessions and courses on philosophical topics where experts and professors deliver lectures primarily in Persian. Of course, the main speaker is Ramin Jahanbegloo, and others participate as guests. Various courses have been held in this association so far, including: Modernities, Ethics, The History of Freedom, Philosophy and Politics, Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit, Schopenhauer's Philosophy, Nietzsche and Ethics, and Heidegger's Being and Time. You can download the audio and video files of these sessions and courses from the SoundCloud and Vimeo sites. This association will be particularly appealing to those interested in Continental philosophy and political philosophy. It is one of the good sources of audio and video files on philosophy in Persian on the web.

2. "Tarjomaan"; While translated articles are no longer published in scientific-research and scientific-promotional journals, the Tarjomaan site operates with the aim of translating and publishing key and influential articles in the fields of philosophy, political science, law, economics, literature, and the Islamic world, and is a good source in this area. One of the advantages of the translated materials is that they are in PDF format with an ISSN number. This site also publishes the Pایش جهان اسلام (Islamic World Monitor) journal, which is dedicated to the intellectual and cultural issues of the Islamic world and is published online.

3. "Thesis Eleven" Enthusiasts of leftist and Marxist philosophies in Iran know Morad Farhadpour well. The Thesis Eleven site reflects the works of him and his like-minded colleagues and students such as Saleh Najafi, Omid Mehrgan, Nader Faturehchi, Houshang Eftekharrad, and others. There, you can view and download the authored and translated works of this intellectual current. Unfortunately, this site is weak in terms of multimedia resources, containing only two audio files of lectures by Morad Farhadpour.

4. "Iranian Institute of Philosophy"; This institute needs no introduction, and philosophy enthusiasts are well aware of the story of its founding by Seyyed Hossein Nasr and its ups and downs after the revolution. On this institute's website, thank God, what is abundant are audio and multimedia files in the field of philosophy. Of course, in the field of Islamic philosophy, the files are from renowned professors in this area, but in the field of Western philosophy, the audio files are not from well-known or recognized professors.

5. "Farhang-e Emrooz"; This site also leans more towards the Continental tradition and seems to be intellectually close to the Fardidi circle. They have also recently started publishing Farhang-e Emrooz magazine, two issues of which have been published so far. One of the good features of the site is that news from the fields of culture, philosophy, and the humanities is posted daily.

6. "Mehrnameh" All humanities enthusiasts know Mehrnameh magazine. A semi-specialized magazine in this field that appeared on newsstands from late 2009. Its website, which contains the magazine's content, is updated very infrequently; for example, while its 38th issue has now been published (November 2014), issue 21 (May 2012) is still on the site. However, there are interesting and thought-provoking articles, interviews, and dossiers even in these issues that can still be of use.

7. «Ketab-e Mah-e Falsafeh»; Ketab-e Mah is a series of periodicals published by Khaneh Ketab in various fields such as social sciences, religion, science and technology, literature, etc. Ketab-e Mah-e Falsafeh is one of these journals, containing dossiers and articles on philosophy, introductions to various philosophers, and book reviews in Persian, Arabic, and English. One of the good features of this site is that you can download the PDF files of the magazines for free.

8. «Anthropology and Culture» Although this site is not directly related to philosophy and deals with anthropology (as a branch of social sciences), lovers of philosophy will not be left empty-handed. Managed by Dr. Nasser Fakouhi, professor of anthropology at the University of Tehran, and several other renowned scholars in the humanities, this site is considered a very rich and rare resource.

9. «New Philosophy» This site is active in the fields of political philosophy, aesthetics, contemporary (continental) philosophy, and analytic philosophy. One of its good features is precisely this attention to analytic philosophy. At this link, there is also a forum affiliated with the site for discussion and exchange of ideas among enthusiasts, where philosophy lovers can consult and exchange views with others on philosophical topics.

10. «Problematica» This site is new, and most of its sections still lack content, but the few pieces that have been published indicate the good taste and knowledge of its administrators.

11. «Sima Fekr» If you are looking for audio and video files in intellectual, philosophical, and social fields, be sure to check out this site, although the diversity of its thinkers is limited and does not cover all tastes.

12. «New Philosophy» New Philosophy is a specialized and independent site in the field of philosophy in Persian. If Western philosophers appeal to you, be sure to visit this site.

13. In recent years, independent study institutes have been established which, concurrent with the decline in the quality of universities and higher education centers and in response to the demand that has arisen for intellectual and philosophical issues, hold open classes in various fields of the humanities by inviting renowned professors. If you are in Tehran, you can take advantage of these classes. Some of the most famous of these institutes include: Porsesh, Rokhdade Tazeh, Panjere Hekmat, and Roozegar-e No. From the websites of these institutes, you can obtain class schedules and cultural CDs containing audio and video recordings of the lectures held at these institutes.

These were the most important Persian-language philosophy sites I knew of; of course, there were other sites that, for reasons such as inactivity or lack of comprehensiveness, were not mentioned here. If friends see another site missing here, please let me know in the comments section so I can add it to this list.