Books by Ramin Jahanbegloo

This book is a comparative study of Gandhi's philosophy and analyses his relevance to modern political thought. It traces the intellectual origins of Gandhi's non-violence as well as his engagement with prominent Western thinkers. An invaluable resource for the contemporary mind, this book will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of

'[This] book succeeds in making us see the poetics of disobedience in the utterly illiberal prosaic ethos of our times, in the light of giving Gandhi a new radical and transformative significance.' -Ashok Vajpeyi, from the ForewordIn this original and timely book, Ramin Jahanbegloo, one of the world's leading political philosophers, engages with the most pressing question facing all of us today: is it not our duty, as free and autonomous citizens of democracy, to question and speak out against all authority? Should we not take back the power from self-interested political actors in the true spirit of Gandhi, for whom Swaraj was more than mere freedom from oppression?The core idea of Gandhi's philosophy of resistance, Jahanbegloo argues, is his unshakeable conviction that it is no longer possible to organize political action without disobedience. Democracy, to be worthy of obedience, he says, must be structured so that every citizen can question and disobey unjust laws and institutions. This is what Mahatma Gandhi still tells us, more forcefully than any other thinker of the twentieth century.The Disobedient Indian is a compellingly argued, persuasive handbook about the history, philosophy and necessity of disobedience. It is a vital tract for our times.

Ramin Jahanbegloo elucidates the central concepts in the moral and political thought of Martin Luther King Jr., bringing out the subtlety, potency, and universal importance of his concepts of Agape love and non-violence, the Beloved Community and revolution of values, and his view of the relation between justice and compassion in politics.

This book is a comparative study of Gandhi¿s philosophy and analyses his relevance to modern political thought. It traces the intellectual origins of Gandhi¿s non-violence as well as his engagement with prominent Western thinkers. 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.

The concept of disobedient consciousness and the rebellious Socratic mind that grows out of this book is, above all, a product of Ramin Jahanbegloo's life meetings with the two apparently contradictory worlds of philosophy and politics. More precisely, it is the result of approaching the public realm in terms of a philosophical quest for truth and justice. This restless quest for truth and justice has a history that continues to bear upon us, however much we choose to ignore it. We can think about the current situation of philosophy by exploring that history. The image of Socrates represents a mid-point between politics and philosophy; the Socratic mind, exemplified by the presence of the public gadfly in history, finds itself at the beginning of a new struggle for truth. The journey to this struggle started with the trial of Socrates, followed by the experiences of Henry David Thoreau, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Albert Camus. But the forging of the rebellious mind and the sustaining of the civic task of philosophy are goals which impose themselves to each of us whenever we are reminded by the urgency of critical thinking in our own dark times. The future of humankind necessarily requires convictions and commitments, but it also requires Socratic rebels, of the mind and of action, who have the courage to swim against the tide. Examining dissent in the history of philosophy, this book will appeal to scholars of political theory and political philosophy and to scholars and students of political and intellectual history.

This book examines two main concepts - harmony and exchange - in relation to the social, political, economic, and cultural dimensions of human life. As such, what differentiates humans from other living species are the possibility of understanding a context and the willingness to collaborate and create complex models of exchange.

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.

The father of Indian independence, Gandhi was also a political theorist who challenged mainstream ideas. Sovereignty, he said, depends on the consent of citizens willing to challenge the state nonviolently when it acts immorally. The culmination of the inner struggle to recognize one’s duty to act is the ultimate “Gandhian moment.”

Revealing and enlightening, Conversations with Isaiah Berlin gives a close-up view of one of the foremost thinkers of our time. Philosopher and leading proponent of liberal thinking, Isaiah Berlin has changed our sense of history and life. This new edition provides an excellent introduction to Berlin's thought.