Trofimov, Sergey: Kant and the Islamic Revolution

This essay investigates a largely overlooked dimension of Iran’s post-revolutionary statecraft: the philosophical affinity between Kant’s critical project and the constitutional architecture of the Islamic Republic. It begins with the historical dispute over Spinoza and the Enlightenment (Jacobi, Mendelssohn, Kant) and argues that Iran’s leadership, having witnessed the 20th century’s twin failures—nihilistic rationalism and obscurantist rejection of modernity—sought a third way. Kant’s dualism