'Philosophy' Macht Frei

So what if Iran keeps enriching in the face of concerted world bitching?  That doesn't mean it should be shunned, made to feel like an outcast, a pariah, a....a...Israel. That's the thinking, no doubt, behind a major UN agency holding a big shindig in, of all places, Tehran, much to the Tehran Times's wicked glee:

TEHRAN -- Scholars from around the world will be gathering in Tehran to observe World Philosophy Day this year.

Proclaimed by UNESCO, World Philosophy Day is observed annually on the third Thursday of November to honor philosophical reflections around the world.

The world is well aware of the scientific and historical position of Iran in possessing and boosting the science of philosophy, said Iran’s representative at UNESCO Headquarter in Paris Mohammadreza Majidi.

UNESCO Headquarter in Paris hosted a session on World Philosophy Day Congress on Thursday where representatives from Iran and several other countries attended.

Majidi said that the foreign representatives at UNESCO Headquarters were also invited to attend the congress in Tehran.

Running in Tehran from November 21 to 23, the congress will be directed by scholar Qolamali Haddad Adel.

Deputy Director of the congress Gholamreza Avani also gave some details and said that Iran offered to host the event two years ago and luckily, the proposal was accepted by UNESCO, the Persian Service of IRNA reported on Friday.

“200 papers selected by the scientific council of the congress are to be presented. A series of theses by students of philosophy, a collection of historical manuscripts, as well as books published by foreign writers on philosophy will go on exhibit at the side section of the program,” said secretary of the event Mohammad-Hossein Imani Khoshkhu.

The stamp of the congress will also be unveiled during the program, he remarked.

Secretary General of the Iranian National Commission for UNESCO Mohammadreza Saeidabadi also praised the special status of philosophy in Iran before and after Islam and said, “The congress will surely provide an opportunity for dialogue among the world’s philosophers which will help reach a common understanding of the current world and its problems.”

UNESCO’s Social and Human Sciences Sector director Maria del Pilar Alvarez-Laso visited Iran several days ago to attend the programming meeting for World Philosophy Day Congress.

The irony of holding UNESCO World Philosophy Day in a country whose entire philosophy can be summed up in the phrase, "Allahu Akbar, nuke the Jews!" apparently being lost on Maria.