An Analysis of the Impact of Socio-Political Space on Epistemological Discontinuity in the Political, Social, and Philosophical Views of Reza Davari Ardakani

Authors

1 Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran.

2 M.A. Graduate in Political Science, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran

3 M.A. Graduate in Political Science, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran.

Abstract

This study examines the ideas of Reza Davari Ardakani as one of the most influential thinkers of the last forty years in the Islamic Republic of Iran, aiming to discern the causes of epistemological discontinuity in his views and thought. The primary research question is: How did the post-Islamic Revolution political and social conditions in Iran lead Davari Ardakani to present his later works in a manner distinct from his early writings? It should be noted that Davari Ardakani’s intellectual trajectory has two dimensions: one ideological-doctrinal and the other political-philosophical. Based on his works and findings, Davari exhibited no significant shift in the first dimension, but in the second- which is divided into two distinct phases- he experienced an epistemological rupture. The first phase of Davari Ardakani’s intellectual life revolves around Westoxication and the critique of the West as the central problematic, while his later phase shifts to the discourse of development and underdevelopment, marking a fundamental transformation in his thought. This study employs Louis Althusser’s theoretical framework to analyze the formative contexts of the first phase and the causes of the rupture in the second phase, which centers on development and underdevelopment, while elucidating Davari Ardakani’s own scientific approach. Finally, through a comparative analysis of these two phases, the study critically examines their profound implications.

Keywords

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics