Bijan Abdolkarimi (; born 1963) is an Iranian philosopher, thinker, translator, and editor. His main interests are ontology, political philosophy and the critique of religious and intellectual traditions. He claims to challenge the dominant ideological discourse in Iran. He has participated in debates at Iranian universities and also in IRIB TV4 in which he has opposed the notion of Islamic humanities.
He is also a scholar of Heidegger's thought and philosophy.
Career Abdolkarimi is associate professor of philosophy at Islamic Azad University North Tehran Branch since 2001. On 4 September 2021, he was fired from Islamic Azad University for alleged “defending the Pahlavi monarchy”. However, the expulsion was suspended on the basis of an interim measure granted by the President of the university.
Views The main characteristics of Abdolkarimi's thought may be summarized as follows: Abdolkarimi seeks to present a spiritual, meditative interpretation of Heidegger's thought. The relation between the West and East is his main issue in his philosophical thinking. He strongly criticizes any ideological, theological understanding of the West and East. He emphasizes a historical, phenomenological understanding of these two traditions. He has worked on the theory of the end of theology and its critical connotations. Following Gianni Vattimo, he believes that the main philosophical characteristic of our time is the destroyed ontology. Abdolkarimi interprets Vattimo's idea as the "metaphysicslessness of our time". But in the context of Abdolkarimi's thought, the term metaphysics is not merely in the Greek sense and refers to any historical theoretical tradition.Interview With IRIB's Channel 4, September 2011 Abdolkarimi believes that the human being's future thought is a kind of nonsecular-nontheological thinking, namely a way of thinking that is in disagreement to the secular, materialistic interpretation of the world, but at the same time does not settle in any historic, theological systems.
Bibliography Reflections on the Paradox of Directed Democracy, Eshraghieh Press, Tehran, 1989 Shariati and Being Politicized, Resa Institute of Cultural Service, Tehran, 1995 Thought and Politics, Tehran: Elmi o Farhangi, 1977. The Story of Me and Thou, Tehran: Critique of Culture, 2001 Heidegger and Transcendence (A Commentary of Heidegger's Interpretation of Kant's Critique of Pure Reason), Tehran: Critique of Culture, 2002 Emancipation or Dominance? (A Critique of the System of Religious Education in Iran), with Mohammad Ali Mohammadi, Tehran: Critique of Culture, 2002 Monism or Pluralism? (Mobile Thinking or Homeless Thought) (A Critique of Daryoush Shaygan's Modern Enchantedness), Tehran: Critique of Culture, 2004 Nietzscheian World and Us, Elm Publication, Tehran, 2009 Hegel or Marx? (A Critique of Iranian Intellectuals), Tehran: Critique of Culture, 2002. Heidegger in Iran, Iranian Institute of Philosophy, 2013
See also Intellectual Movements in Iran Iranian philosophy Religious intellectualism in Iran
Sources
External links
Abdolkarimi's Official Website Conceptual Approaches in Contemporary Iranian Religious Reformism