In the first half of the book, Nader Ahmadi (sociology, Stockholm U., Sweden) presents an inquiry into the philosophical obstacles to the development of the concept of the individual in the ways of thinking of Iranians through a study of the mystical features of Iranian thought. In the second part, Fereshteh Ahmadi (researcher, Uppsala U., Sweden) presents an investigation of the institutional obstacles to growth of concern for the individual in Iranian ways of thinking through a study of the individuals status in the political and legal systems in Iran. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or. This book examines the significance of the concept of the individual in the thinking of Iranians from theological and philosophical as well as socio-political and historical perspectives. There is a discrepancy between the dominant conceptions of the status and role of the individual prevailing in modern Western ways of thinking, on the one hand, and, the Iranian ways of thinking on the other. This book examines the significance of the concept of the individual in the thinking of Iranians from theological and philosophical as well as socio-political and historical perspectives. The author establishes that the mystical dimension of Islamic thought, the divine nature of Islamic law and the mode of relationship between ruler and ruled in combination counteracted the growth of concern for the individual self in Iranian thought. This book examines the significance of the concept of the individual in the thinking of Iranians from theological and philosophical as well as socio-political and historical perspectives.
