Ahmad Rajabi: A Pathology of the Conditions of Possibility for Philosophical Research in Iran

A Pathology of the Conditions of Possibility for Philosophical Research in Iran

Presenter: Ahmad Rajabi (Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, University of Tehran)

Session Secretary: Arash Bagheri (M.A. Student of Philosophy, University of Tehran)

The present discussion was held by the initiative of the Research Deputy of the Faculty of Literature and Humanities at the University of Tehran on the occasion of Research Week. This discussion is not the presentation of a scientific lecture about philosophical research, but rather a discussion about academic philosophical research itself and its pathology within the Iranian academic sphere, meaning what obstacles and harms exist in the way of enabling philosophical research, so that through recognizing and examining them, one can approach the possibility of attaining genuine philosophizing and research in the Iranian academic space on par with successful global experiences. The emphasis of this discussion is on pathology and recognizing obstacles, and from this perspective, it is primarily negative with some positive indications; however, presenting a comprehensive, detailed, positive alternative plan is the result of collective deliberations that become possible after a precise recognition of the obstacles.

The lecture is pursued in three main parts: first, a general discussion about the existing harms in academic research in purely theoretical disciplines and the humanities in general from a formal perspective, which encompasses a set of intertwined factors. Then, a discussion about the formal harms concerning research in the discipline of philosophy, which, in addition to the formal obstacles discussed in the first part, includes problems regarding the view of philosophy's existence, administrative and educational problems, the creation of sub-disciplines, a cultural problem, and so on. In the third part, finally, a brief and content-based look will be taken at philosophy itself, regarding how the horizon of posing fundamental philosophical problems in contemporary Iran can make philosophical research in Iran possible in the sense of a philosophical life.

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