Why this book?
- To understand Dariush Shayegan's perspective on the encounter between East and West.
- To grasp the concept of Westoxification and the identity crisis in Asian civilizations.
- To study the nexus between history, philosophy, and civilization.
- For those interested in the philosophy of culture and contemporary Iranian thought.
About the book
Asia Against the West is one of Dariush Shayegan's most important works on the relationship between Asian civilizations and the modern Western world. In this book, Shayegan attempts to examine the fundamental differences between Eastern and Western modes of thought and to analyze Asia's historical position in the face of the trajectory of Western intellectual evolution.
The book is organized into two main parts. The first part addresses nihilism and its impact on the historical destiny of Asian civilizations, and by examining the ideas of Nietzsche and Dostoevsky, it dissects phenomena such as collective Westoxification, the crisis of thought, and cultural rupture. The second part is dedicated to examining the major centers of Asian culture, including Iran, India, China, and Japan, in the face of the course of Western intellectual evolution.
This work holds an important place in Shayegan's intellectual trajectory and is considered one of the influential works in the field of the philosophy of culture and comparative thought. Asia Against the West is suitable for readers interested in the history of thought, the encounter between tradition and modernity, and the identity issues of non-Western societies.