Born in the Persian capital in 1956, Ramin studied at the Sorbonne and at Harvard. His subject is the dialogue between cultures and he opposes Huntingdon’s theory of a “clash”. Dialogue was of great importance in Khomeini’s Iran and Jahanbegloo practiced it as the head of a university cultural centre which hosted encounters with great Western philosophers, from Habermas to Rorty, until 2006 when Ahmadinejad’s repression resulted in his imprisonment for five and a half months, following specious allegations he was a spy, months during which many feared greatly for his life. Strong intellectual mobilisation with appeals signed all over the world, added to commitment shown by European governments managed to avoid the worst.

After being released he was obliged to live in exile and has now settled in Toronto where he teaches at a university, while also lecturing at other universities abroad, such as in Spain and in India. He made his literary debut publishing the book Conversations with Isaiah Berlin, which contains an effective and summarised portrayal of the ideas of the great liberal. Jahanbegloo shares Berlin’s ideas about cultural pluralism, a subject very dear to him and the topicality of which continuously reappears on the contemporary agenda. In his book on Gandhi, the Iranian philosopher searches for a new and very modern image of the Mahatma, not only an apostle of non-violence but also a supporter of pluralism of the spirit and of tolerance between different civilisations and cultures.

Ramin Jahanbegloo is still an active member of Reset-Dialogues on Civilizations’ scientific committee. His contributions can be read in the magazine Reset and at www.resetdoc.org.