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Zusatztext " The Iranian Metaphysicals provides valuable insights not only to scholars of Iran or Islamic studies, but also to those interested in global and comparative approaches to the politics of religion, cultural studies, and histories of the occult." ---Elise K. Burton, International Dialogue Informationen zum Autor Alireza Doostdar is assistant professor of Islamic Studies and the anthropology of religion at the University of Chicago. Klappentext "Beautifully written and argued, this powerful book turns our full attention to the rationality of enchantment in the modern world. Deftly weaving gripping stories with history, theology, and political considerations, Doostdar presents an important analysis of the landscape of Iranian metaphysical inquiry and a new, fresh perspective on the conditions and qualities of reason and rationalization in the world and in anthropological inquiry." --Courtney Bender, Columbia University "Examining contemporary Iranians' wide-ranging experiments with the supernatural, including political-cultural and historical contexts, Doostdar demonstrates the profound 'edginess' of these practitioners: their doubts and concerns with respectability. This is a captivating read and an unprecedented book, certain to appeal to anthropologists and to Middle East specialists alike." --Cyrus Schayegh, Princeton University "This original book considers Iranians' experiments with the supernatural world through investigations into their encounters with the occult, mysticism, healing, exorcism, magnetism, and Spiritism, among other practices. In engaging with the complex spiritual worlds of Iranians, The Iranian Metaphysicals reveals new meanings and uses of science in the pursuit of knowledge and the divine." --Arzoo Osanloo, University of Washington Zusammenfassung What do the occult sciences, seances with the souls of the dead, and appeals to saintly powers have to do with rationality? Since the late nineteenth century, modernizing intellectuals, religious leaders, and statesmen in Iran have attempted to curtail many such practices as "superstitious," instead encouraging the development of rational religious...
