God and Juggernaut

by Vahdat, Farzin

• ISBN13: 9780815629474
• ISBN10: 0815629478
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-06-01
• Publisher: Syracuse Univ Pr

Summary

Farzin Vahdat has written a trenchant analysis of the intellectual discourse of modernity in Iran. Although there have been several recent studies about Iranian intellectuals, this volume is unique in that it focuses almost entirely on intellectual discourse among the clergy.Vahdat first provides us with a solid foundation for understanding the key Critical Theory concept of subjectivity -- especially as expounded in the writings of Jurgen Habermas. Then, he successfully shows how one Western philosophical approach does have universal applicability by demonstrating the concern of Iranian theorists such as Shariati, Motahhari, Khomeini, and Sorush with human subjectivity.By engaging the major theoretical discourses of modernity, the author attempts for the first time in a non-Western context to address some of the central theoretical issues involved in modernity and Iran's experience of these issues. As such, this study can contribute to a profound understanding of modernity and its development in a Middle Eastern context. This book is an important addition to the growing body of work in Global Studies and Critical Theory as well as on contemporary Iran.

Author Biography

Farzin Vahdat's articles have appeared in Critique, Journal of Iranian Research and Analysis, and Scandinavian Journal of Middle Eastern Studies. Currently, he teaches in the Department of Comparative Religion at Tufts University

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	xi
The Nature of Modernity	1	(24)
PART ONE I Iran's Experiment with Modernity	25	(104)
The Dawn of Modernity in Iran
Positivist Subjectivity and Universalizable Subjectivity	27	(48)
The Eclipse of Universalizable Subjectivity and the Quest for a Collective Subject	75	(54)
PART TWO I Islamic Discourses and Modernity	129	(83)
Islamic Revolutionary Thought
The Self as Mediated Subjectivity	131	(51)
Postrevolutionary Discourses
The Contraction and Expansion of Subjectivity	182	(30)
Conclusion	212	(9)
Appendix	221	(20)
Works Cited	241	(14)
Index	255