The “Center for Compiling a Comprehensive History of Philosophy and Wisdom” is one of the research centers affiliated to the Sadra Islamic Philosophy Institute. It was established in 2005 in order to compile the history of philosophy and wisdom in Iran and the world.

The supervisor of this project is Professor Seyyed Mohammed Khamenei, and a number of prominent masters such as Dr. Reza Dawari Ardakani, Dr. Gholamhossein Ibrahimi Dinani, Dr. Karim Mujtahidi, Dr. Muhammed Ilkhani, Dr. Reza Akbarian, Dr. Hamidreza Ayatullahi, Dr. Hussein Kalbasi, Dr. Hekmatullah Mulla Salehi, and Dr. Ahmad Mesghari are cooperating in conducting it.

The purpose of this Center is to provide an appropriate context for research in the history of philosophy and wisdom, identify the origin and homeland of philosophical trends, particularly the less known or unfamiliar ones, discuss the quality of the changes and evolutions of philosophical schools and ideas and the way they influence each other, and determine the true share of each culture and civilization in the history of human thought.

The necessity of paying attention to the historical background of philosophy and human thought deserves our attention from many angles:

1. An accurate and correct understanding of philosophical issues is impossible without paying attention to their historical background and the changes they have undergone.

2. The history of philosophy, which is, in fact, the same history of human thought and civilization is the all-revealing mirror of the process of the development of man’s thought in the course of history. Having awareness of and not paying attention to this issue is equal to ignorance of one’s historical identity, which finally leads to philosophical and cultural self-estrangement. Paying attention to this important issue leads to retaining the roles and shares of individuals, cultures, and civilization in the spread of philosophy and thought. This is of high importance to nations which have made great efforts in this regard since the beginning of history, particularly to the Iranian nation, whose country has always been the cradle of civilization and the fountain of wisdom.

 Unfortunately, in spite of the importance of the origin of thought and composing the history of thought and culture, recording the history of philosophy and culture is now in the hands of those who view them through the narrow and dark window of their own thoughts, which are mainly contaminated with racial, religious, or political prejudices. It is not accidental that here the huge and historical share of the Iranian nation and many other civilizations has been either concealed or downgraded or tarnished with various enmities.

What is now available in our country from the history of philosophy is usually a translation of their products and there is no complete and comprehensive history at hand.

These problems motivated the Sadra Islamic Philosophy Institute, one of the strategic purposes and policies of which is to fill the research-related gaps in the field of philosophy and remove the obstacles and shortcomings before researchers, to devise this brave and innovative project in order to compile a comprehensive history of the changes and evolutions in wisdom and philosophy in Iran and the entire world and establish a center for accomplishing this task.