Ramin Jahanbegloo - Böcker

In today's global climate of pre-packaged opinions, every effort of original thinking is an act of dissent. To think radically today is to be a heretic: committing 'heresy' not in its theological sense, but in relation to its ancient Greek roots, which means 'choice'. With the rise of the post-industrial global village dominated by media networks and technology-led communication, the 'epidemic of conformism' has completely paralysed intellectuals' ability to question. It has now become critical to examine the central role of heresy in the formation of critical thinking and anti-dogmatism.Since the time of Socrates to the present, public intellectuals have aligned themselves with the heretical imperative by questioning organized power and opened up social, political, economic, and cultural life to public scrutiny and accountability. This effort is described in this volume through the self-examined lives of philosophers such as Socrates and José Ortega y Gasset, Albert Camus, and Yukio Mishima. They serve to elaborate the context of the author's bold claim that B.R. Ambedkar, the central character of the author's research, is the boldest heretic in Indian political history.

This is an interesting book of conversations, which not only endorses the life and thoughts of Ashok Vajpeyi, but also praises poetry in general. Ashok Vajpeyi is a poet who is at home with the word. He speaks to the mortals and the divinities. He makes the mystery of the world visible to us by speaking with/of poetry. Throughout these conversations we encounter a poet who sets his own pace through poetry, music and painting. Ashok Vajpeyi's deep sense of expectation from arts is born out of his love of the world, which renders moral dignity to creativity.

Flowing effortlessly from Sudhir Kakar's descriptions of his early life in undivided India to discussions on the Indian psyche and sexuality, India Analysed discusses Kakar's views on secularism and modern Indian leaders such as Gandhi and Nehru wherein he brings to bear his intellect on a wide range of issues such as philosophy, Indian culture and tradition, and the Partition, and, in doing so, reveals the psychological make-up of the contemporary Indian. Part of Ramin Jahanbegloo's series of interviews with prominent intellectuals who have influenced modern Indian thought, this candid and freewheeling conversation demystifies many of the complex ideas of the eminent psychoanalyst Sudhir Kakar.

This work is in the form of letters written by an old philosopher, at the end of his career and life, to a young student. The letters cover a comprehensive introduction to philosophy, wisdom, and the art of thinking. Inspired from Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke, the letters of the old philosopher guide, instruct, and pass on wisdom to the student. In a lucid and conversational style, the old philosopher instructs the student on a range of issues such as love, education, friendship, violence, ignorance, mediocrity, and happiness. The style is both philosophical and literary.

This volume is an adda of great minds, spanning generations and multiple nationalities. While one discusses creativity and aesthetics through Indian classical music, another recounts the pleasure of a simple walk. Another questions how it would be if Rabindranath Tagore lived in the twenty-first century; yet another, how 'cool' Indians are or might be in the future. Subjects as far apart as war and solitude find space in these musings. Through these lively engagements emerge key insights into the ideas, writings, and life of one of the foremost intellectuals of our time in Indian and global scholarship, thought, and dissent-Ashis Nandy.

Talking Sociology is the ninth title in the OUP series of Ramin Jahanbegloo's conversations with prominent intellectuals who have made significant contribution in shaping the modern Indian thought. The present volume covers the life and works of the influential Indian sociologist and public intellectual, Dipankar Gupta. As a social scientist, Gupta has made remarkable contribution to contemporary social theory by redefining and reconstructing the central concepts of the past masters and taking sociology beyond its disciplinary boundaries by helping several generations of Indians understand contemporary social change and transformation of institutions. He is considered the most insightful analyst of modernity and modernization in India. The conversation in this volume revolves around Gupta's career and contribution to the field, and discusses the key areas of sociology such as the problem of social stratification, citizenship and democracy, and the caste system and ethnic groups in India.

Talking Architecture (Revised Edition) is one of the latest additions in the series of Ramin Jahanbegloo's interviews of prominent intellectuals who have influenced modern Indian thought. Focusing on the life, work, and ideas of Raj Rewal, one of India's leading contemporary architects, the dialogue flows effortlessly from Rewal's descriptions of his early life and experiences in Europe to discussions encompassing the aesthetic foundations of Indian architecture as well as the role of architecture in the twenty-first century. This revised edition includes an extended conversation between Rewal and Jahanbegloo and also about 40 additional visuals.

Non-violent movements, under figures like Gandhi and the Dalai Lama, led to some of the great social changes of the 20th century, and some argue it offers solutions for this century's problems. This book explores non-violence from its roots in diverse religious and philosophical traditions to its role in bringing social and political change today.

Non-violent movements, under figures like Gandhi and the Dalai Lama, led to some of the great social changes of the 20th century, and some argue it offers solutions for this century's problems. This book explores non-violence from its roots in diverse religious and philosophical traditions to its role in bringing social and political change today.

In this book, a series of interviews offers an accessible, revealing, human and intellectual biography of leading Islamic scholar Seyyed Hossein Nasr.Seyyed Hossein Nasr is one of the preeminent philosophers writing today. Sure to be a key resource for decades to come, In Search of the Sacred: A Conversation with Seyyed Hossein Nasr on His Life and Thought illuminates Nasr's experiences and shares his insights on topics from religion and philosophy to science and the arts.Based on a series of interviews, the book combines traditional autobiography with an exploration of the intellectual and spiritual trajectories of the author's thought during key periods of his life. In doing so, it presents a fascinating panorama, not only of the life and ideas of one man, but also of major events ranging from intellectual life in Iran during the Pahlavi period and the Iranian Revolution to some of the major religious and intellectual debates between Islam and modernism. Nasr writes that his "whole life has been a quest for the sacred." This work connects that quest with some of the most important issues of the day in encounters between Islam and the West.

This book interprets the ideas, thoughts and concepts that characterize the writings and philosophy of Albert Camus for our contemporary times. It investigates Camus’ "revolted compassion" as an outsider and a philosopher-writer who in his own words believed in "creating dangerously". The author examines Camus’ interventions on political, philosophical and moral questions, such as Algerian independence, capital punishment, ideological violence, nihilism in the context of his ideals of the absurd and revolt, and justice and liberty. Further, it goes on to provide an exhaustive analysis of Camus’ critique of violence and his intellectual resistance to totalitarianism. Bringing together latest scholarship with an acute analysis of Albert Camus’ philosophy, this sourcebook throws a powerful light on the intellectual foundations of the twentieth century and its relevance for the twenty-first. The book will be of interest to scholars of literature, philosophy and African Studies.

This book maps the genesis and development of Gandhi’s idea of non-violence. It traces the evolution of the message of peace from its first expressions in South Africa to Gandhi’s later campaigns against British rule in India, most prominently the Salt March campaign of 1930. It argues that Gandhi’s blueprint for change must be adopted in the present, as the world craters on the precipice of catastrophic climate change, and the threat of nuclear war hangs over our heads.A timely book for uncertain times, this work is a reminder of the value of peace in the 21st century. It will be of great interest to readers, scholars and researchers of peace and conflict studies, politics, philosophy, history and South Asian studies.

This book maps the genesis and development of Gandhi’s idea of non-violence. It traces the evolution of the message of peace from its first expressions in South Africa to Gandhi’s later campaigns against British rule in India, most prominently the Salt March campaign of 1930. It argues that Gandhi’s blueprint for change must be adopted in the present, as the world craters on the precipice of catastrophic climate change, and the threat of nuclear war hangs over our heads.A timely book for uncertain times, this work is a reminder of the value of peace in the 21st century. It will be of great interest to readers, scholars and researchers of peace and conflict studies, politics, philosophy, history and South Asian studies.

This book is a comparative study of Gandhi’s philosophy and analyzes his relevance to modern political thought. It traces the intellectual origins of Gandhi’s nonviolence as well as his engagement with Western thinkers – ancient as well as his contemporaries. The author discusses Gandhi’s exchanges with eminent thinkers like Tolstoy and Thoreau, and looks at his vision of pluralism, democracy, and violence through the lens of philosophers like Hannah Arendt, Isaiah Berlin, and Cornelius Castoriadis. Further, it explores Gandhi’s association with Abdul Ghaffar Khan and the Khilafat Movement. Finally, the book examines Gandhian thought in the light of his global followers like Martin Luther King Jr and Nelson Mandela.An invaluable resource for the contemporary mind, this book will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of politics, political thought, Gandhi studies, and philosophy.

Gandhi is revered as a historic leader, the father of Indian independence, and the inspiration for nonviolent protest around the world. But the importance of these practical achievements has obscured Gandhi’s stature as an extraordinarily innovative political thinker. Ramin Jahanbegloo presents Gandhi the political theorist—the intellectual founder of a system predicated on the power of nonviolence to challenge state sovereignty and domination. A philosopher and an activist in his own right, Jahanbegloo guides us through Gandhi’s core ideas, shows how they shaped political protest from 1960s America to the fall of the Berlin Wall and beyond, and calls for their use today by Muslims demanding change.Gandhi challenged mainstream political ideas most forcefully on sovereignty. He argued that state power is not legitimate simply when it commands general support or because it protects us from anarchy. Instead, legitimacy depends on the consent of dutiful citizens willing to challenge the state nonviolently when it acts immorally. The culmination of the inner struggle to recognize one’s duty to act, Jahanbegloo says, is the ultimate “Gandhian moment.”Gandhi’s ideas have motivated such famous figures as Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, and the Dalai Lama. As Jahanbegloo demonstrates, they also inspired the unheralded Muslim activists Abul Kalam Azad and Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, whose work for Indian independence answers those today who doubt the viability of nonviolent Islamic protest. The book is a powerful reminder of Gandhi’s enduring political relevance and a pioneering account of his extraordinary intellectual achievements.

The Iranian Revolution represented to intellectuals and professionals the potential of spiritual values to triumph over the great power of economic imperialism. Yet out of this revolution has emerged an identity crisis that touches Islamic ideological heights and reaches down to the very ground of Islamic practice. The contributors to this collection, experts on Iranian cultural and political history, analyze the 'fragmented self' of today's Iranian, refracted through that country's institutions, market forces, and modern thought. Each essay both deepens our understanding of contemporary Iran and adds to the broader discussion of the relationship between Islam and the West.

In this timely, informative edited volume, major Iranian scholars and civic actors address some of the most pressing questions about Iranian civil society and the process of democratization in Iran. They describe the role of Iranian civil society in the process of transition to democracy in Iran and offer insight about the enduring legacy of previous social and political movements—starting with the Constitutional Revolution of 1906— in the struggle for democracy in Iran. Each contributor looks at different aspects of Iranian civil society to address the complex nature of the political order in Iran and the possibilities for secularization and democratization of the Iranian government. Various contributors analyze the impact of religion on prevailing democratic thought, discussing reformist religious movements and thinkers and the demands of religious minorities. Others provide insight into the democratic implications of recent Iranian women’s rights movements, call for secularism within government, and the pressure placed on the existing theocracy by the working class. The contributors address these and related issues in all their richness and complexity and offer a set of discussions that is both accessible and illuminating for the reader.

Sorbonne-educated and the author of almost 30 books, Ramin Jahanbegloo, a philosopher of non-violence in the tradition of Tolstoy and Gandhi, was arrested and detained in Iran's notorious Evin prison in 2006. A petition against his imprisonment was initiated, with Umberto Eco, Jurgen Habermas, and Noam Chomsky among the signatories. International organizations joined in, and media around the world reported his case extensively. Finally, after four months, he was released. In this memoir Jahanbegloo recounts his confinement, his fear for his life, and his concern for the well-being of his family. With cockroaches his only companions, he is sustained by the wisdom of the great philosophers and by his memories of childhood in Tehran and coming-of-age in Paris. Now exiled to Canada, Jahanbegloo wryly observes that he "traded the danger and violence of an Iranian prison for the mediocrity and hypocrisy of a late capitalist society" and finds himself struggling yet again--this time against banality--in his continued quest for freedom.

This book interprets the ideas, thoughts and concepts that characterize the writings and philosophy of Albert Camus for our contemporary times. It investigates Camus’ "revolted compassion" as an outsider and a philosopher-writer who in his own words believed in "creating dangerously". The author examines Camus’ interventions on political, philosophical and moral questions, such as Algerian independence, capital punishment, ideological violence, nihilism in the context of his ideals of the absurd and revolt, and justice and liberty. Further, it goes on to provide an exhaustive analysis of Camus’ critique of violence and his intellectual resistance to totalitarianism. Bringing together latest scholarship with an acute analysis of Albert Camus’ philosophy, this sourcebook throws a powerful light on the intellectual foundations of the twentieth century and its relevance for the twenty-first. The book will be of interest to scholars of literature, philosophy and African Studies.

This book highlights the problem of one-dimensional, reductionistic life of the modern individual. An expression of crisis in our world, it discusses the imperative need to have a more comprehensive, non-reductionist life where the Other is incorporated, especially the relationship between the Other and the Self, based on virtues like love, empathy, equality, and compassion.The volume sheds light on how the world has forgone the art of living for a mutilated sense of well-being, the rise of conformity and complacency in human thought, and the lack of democratic dissent and citizenry responsibility in our contemporary societies, which is now characterized by mass immaturity, propelled by a process of thoughtlessness. It discusses how humans need to be aware of the life they lead, to think about Otherness of the Other not just as another virtue but also as a crucial element in the survival of humanity, for people to coexist with the world around them as equals. Furthermore, it advocates meaningful and thoughtful existence, in touch with the Nature we coexist with, to ensure that humanity is not robbed of its noble spirit as we live to survive in our techno-capitalist societies.An introspective read, this book will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of moral and ethical philosophy, political philosophy, and political science.

This book highlights the problem of one-dimensional, reductionistic life of the modern individual. An expression of crisis in our world, it discusses the imperative need to have a more comprehensive, non-reductionist life where the Other is incorporated, especially the relationship between the Other and the Self, based on virtues like love, empathy, equality, and compassion.The volume sheds light on how the world has forgone the art of living for a mutilated sense of well-being, the rise of conformity and complacency in human thought, and the lack of democratic dissent and citizenry responsibility in our contemporary societies, which is now characterized by mass immaturity, propelled by a process of thoughtlessness. It discusses how humans need to be aware of the life they lead, to think about Otherness of the Other not just as another virtue but also as a crucial element in the survival of humanity, for people to coexist with the world around them as equals. Furthermore, it advocates meaningful and thoughtful existence, in touch with the Nature we coexist with, to ensure that humanity is not robbed of its noble spirit as we live to survive in our techno-capitalist societies.An introspective read, this book will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of moral and ethical philosophy, political philosophy, and political science.

This book examines the figure of the public intellectual through the work of Émile Zola in the Dreyfus affair. It analyzes Zola’s famous letter “J’Accuse” supporting Alfred Dreyfus and its philosophical and political consequences for the intellectual world, including Indian public intellectuals. The volume is an examination of the critical role that can be played by public intellectuals today by referring to the “J’Accuse” model and a homage to the ideal of living decently and truthfully through the exercise of critical reason and moral excellence.Accessible and comprehensive, the book will be essential reading for students of philosophy and critical reasoning. It will be of interest to general readers as well.

This book examines Gandhi's idea of swaraj as an alternative to the modern concept of political authority. It also introduces the readers to Gandhi’s ideas of moral interconnectedness and empathetic pluralism. It explores the Gandhian belief that "nonviolence" as a moral and political concept is essentially the empowerment of the Other through spiritual and political realization of the self as a non-egocentric subject. Further, it highlights swaraj as an act of conscience and therefore a transformative force, essential to the harmony between spirituality and politics.The volume will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of philosophy, politics, and South Asian studies.

This book examines Gandhi's idea of swaraj as an alternative to the modern concept of political authority. It also introduces the readers to Gandhi’s ideas of moral interconnectedness and empathetic pluralism. It explores the Gandhian belief that "nonviolence" as a moral and political concept is essentially the empowerment of the Other through spiritual and political realization of the self as a non-egocentric subject. Further, it highlights swaraj as an act of conscience and therefore a transformative force, essential to the harmony between spirituality and politics.The volume will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of philosophy, politics, and South Asian studies.

This book examines the figure of the public intellectual through the work of Émile Zola in the Dreyfus affair. It analyzes Zola’s famous letter “J’Accuse” supporting Alfred Dreyfus and its philosophical and political consequences for the intellectual world, including Indian public intellectuals. The volume is an examination of the critical role that can be played by public intellectuals today by referring to the “J’Accuse” model and a homage to the ideal of living decently and truthfully through the exercise of critical reason and moral excellence.Accessible and comprehensive, the book will be essential reading for students of philosophy and critical reasoning. It will be of interest to general readers as well.

This book presents an original understanding of Arendt in the context of comparative political theory. The author discusses Arendt’s acute and perceptive view of violence as well as practical applications of her thought in a comparative context.The book examines Hannah Arendt’s ideas about politics and violence provoked by the horrors of totalitarianism. It applies the rich potential of Arendt’s insights to the wider cultural context and discourse of nonviolence. Through case studies of India and Iran, it presents a new way of reading Arendt’s understanding and critique of violence beyond the simple analysis of her work on power and violence.An original, nuanced and meaningful guide to Hannah Arendt, the book will be essential reading for students and scholars in politics, philosophy and peace and conflict studies.

This book presents an original understanding of Arendt in the context of comparative political theory. The author discusses Arendt’s acute and perceptive view of violence as well as practical applications of her thought in a comparative context.The book examines Hannah Arendt’s ideas about politics and violence provoked by the horrors of totalitarianism. It applies the rich potential of Arendt’s insights to the wider cultural context and discourse of nonviolence. Through case studies of India and Iran, it presents a new way of reading Arendt’s understanding and critique of violence beyond the simple analysis of her work on power and violence.An original, nuanced and meaningful guide to Hannah Arendt, the book will be essential reading for students and scholars in politics, philosophy and peace and conflict studies.

This book is a comparative study of Gandhi’s philosophy and analyzes his relevance to modern political thought. It traces the intellectual origins of Gandhi’s nonviolence as well as his engagement with Western thinkers – ancient as well as his contemporaries. The author discusses Gandhi’s exchanges with eminent thinkers like Tolstoy and Thoreau, and looks at his vision of pluralism, democracy, and violence through the lens of philosophers like Hannah Arendt, Isaiah Berlin, and Cornelius Castoriadis. Further, it explores Gandhi’s association with Abdul Ghaffar Khan and the Khilafat Movement. Finally, the book examines Gandhian thought in the light of his global followers like Martin Luther King Jr and Nelson Mandela.An invaluable resource for the contemporary mind, this book will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of politics, political thought, Gandhi studies, and philosophy.

What do we mean by nonviolence? What can nonviolence achieve? Are there limits to nonviolence and, if so, what are they? These are the questions the Iranian political philosopher and activist Ramin Jahanbegloo tackles in his journey through the major political advocates of nonviolence during the 20th century. While nonviolent resistance has accompanied human culture from its earliest beginnings, and representations of nonviolence in Eastern religions like Jainism, Buddhism and Hinduism are ubiquitous, it is only in 20th century that it emerged as a major preoccupation of figures such as Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa and Václav Havel. Focusing on examples of their way of thinking in different cultural, geographic and political contexts, from the Indian Independence Movement and US Civil rights and Anti-Apartheid movement to the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia and nonviolent protests in Tunisia, Iran, Serbia and Hong-Kong, Jahanbegloo explores why nonviolence remains relevant as a form of resistance against injustice and oppression around the world.With balanced readings of central players and events, this comparative study of a pivotal form of resistance written by accomplished scholar of Gandhi presents convincing reasons to commit to nonviolence, reminding us why it matters to the development of contemporary political thought.