Analytic philosophy: goals and programmes

Analytic philosophy is an approach to philosophy that divides each philosophical problem into smaller ones and then, by making use of the achievements of formal and mathematical logic, works towards systematic solutions to the main problems.

The emphasis on the analytic aspect should not be seen as discontinuous with the history of philosophy—such a discontinuity is neither acceptable nor intelligible. The purpose of stressing the term analytic is only to distinguish this way of philosophizing from the so-called “European” or “continental” philosophy, which is less concerned with logical reasoning. Thus “classical philosophy”, “Western philosophy”, and “Islamic philosophy” are to be considered equally analytic, for the main criterion of categorizing a philosophical attitude as analytic is its commitment to the method of logical reasoning. From this point of view, contemporary analytic philosophy is the natural continuation of (Eastern as well as Western) philosophy.

By establishing the School of Analytic Philosophy at IPM, we hope to contribute to the flourishing of analytic philosophy in Iran and try to revive the magnificent philosophical tradition of our culture. We hope such efforts will culminate in world-class philosophical work by Iranian philosophers.

Despite the organic relationship between pure sciences and humanities, there is a chasm between these two disciplines in the Iranian academic sphere. Compared to the international publications of Iranian authorship in the sciences (especially in physics and mathematics), the contribution of Iranian scholars in the field of humanities is negligible. The situation is even worse in the case of philosophy in particular: looking at prestigious international journals, one finds papers by Iranian philosophers rarely. Furthermore, those published by Iranian journals do not seem to have a great impact on either education or research.

To set a higher standard for philosophy in Iran and to pave a path to join the international philosophical community, The School of Analytic Philosophy was founded in the spring of 2004 as a subdivision of the Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences.