Book review: Afsāniʹhā-yi Ārāmʹbakhsh (‘Tranquilizing Myths’) by Saeid Zibakalam

Afsāniʹhā-yi Ārāmʹbakhsh (‘Tranquilizing Myths’) is a newly published (Spring 1396 Sh./ 2017) research work by the contemporary Iranian philosopher Saeid Zibakalam. It is composed of eight essays entitled, respectively, “The myth of free irreligious outlook”, “The myth of the universal Rationality”, “The myth of free-thinking”, “The myth of the Nature of Argument”, “The myth of the [Quranic] advice for ratiocination”, “The myth of impartiality”, “The myth of humanity’s expectations from religion”, and “Some myths concerning theory and theory-construction”. A number of prevalent ideas, especially among the philosophers, are investigated in the essays to show that each of them is either entirely fictitious or lack a widely accepted, unique meaning. The present piece of writing is devoted to a general review of the work, some contextualizations of its content, hints to various challenges that it rises, and also several critical points. My overall assessment is that the Afsāniʹhā-yi Ārāmʹbakhsh is one of the most serious intellectual/ philosophical works in Persian that has appeared in recent decades, and a careful engagement with it is strongly recommended for anyone who wants to be acquainted with the latest development of Irano-Islamic thought in its frontline