See below how to register for each presentation or watch/listen to the recordings
The Baha’i Faith has a uniquely future-oriented theology, inspired not only by humanity’s pre-modern heritage but also by conviction in its imminent global integration. Baha’i scholars, therefore, have taken as much interest in modern and contemporary thought as in classical philosophy. For instance, Paul Lample notes the resonance between Baha’i thought and, “a number of scholars that are attempting to find an adequate response to the problem of knowledge arising from the clash between objectivism and relativism, between modernism and postmodernism.” He further explores an important shift in contemporary philosophy, “to hermeneutics—the principle of interpretation used to unravel communication and human understanding” (Lample, 2009).
These presentations will explore one primary intellectual tradition within which these debates and transformations transpired, the joint project of “phenomenology/philosophical hermeneutics.” Using this tradition as our example, we will ask how philosophy’s seeming loss of universality and its turn to questions of cultural and linguistic mediation present real insights and challenges for Baha’i thought. If Baha’i Writings and our proclamation of an emerging global civilization present hopeful avenues here, we will only benefit by taking seriously this rigorous and formative tradition of inquiry. Despite the relative failure of phenomenology/hermeneutics to found a universal meta-discourse, few projects have drawn as nuanced and productive channels across many of today’s sharpest intellectual polarities, including: religion and science, tradition and modernity, the European canon and post-colonial and feminist critiques, among others. It is no wonder that Baha’i thinkers have found important resources in this rich tradition.
NOTE: You have to register for each one separately.
Part I: Husserl’s Phenomenology, Sunday, February 8, 2026, 2 p.m. Eastern
Watch Feb. 8 video
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Read the Transcript
In part one, we will explore the inception and rise of the phenomenological method, developed by Edmund Husserl and his circle at the turn of the 20th century. We will consider some of the following: Why was his phenomenology considered such a promising candidate for the elusive modernist dream of grounding science in a universal philosophy once and for all? Why was science considered in crisis, and why did a total philosophical foundation, capable of bridging human and natural sciences, seem the necessary solution? Why did this finally prove elusive? Yet, as we will continue to explore in the following presentations, what made Husserl’s approach so vital that it continued to find adherents even after it failed in this aim? Finally, what might Baha’i discourse learn from this high-modernist project and its limitations?
Part II: The Hermeneutic Turn, Sunday, February 15, 2026, 2 p.m. Eastern
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In part two, we will explore the relative failure of this high aim and the turn of his many German and French successors to questions of language and cultural inheritance under the rubric of a “philosophical hermeneutics.” Why was hermeneutics, a science of interpretation, considered the missing key that could sustain this project and create a true universal discourse? Why did questions of linguistic and cultural mediation become so paramount for a tradition initially focused on the scientific and objective? And, important to our remaining presentation, why did this attempt to secure philosophy’s universality prove so tenuous? As Baha’i’s we might ask, is philosophy reaching a certain global limit here? Finally, drawing on Lample and other Baha’i scholars, we will ask how this hermeneutic approach might benefit Baha’i philosophical engagement today.
Part III: The Postmodern Turn, Sunday, March 15, 2 p.m. Eastern
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Listen to the audio (podcast)
Finally, in part three, we will explore why, almost a century after Husserl’s first works, many of the most prominent “postmodern” philosophers, including Jean-Francois Lyotard and Jacques Derrida, began their careers by taking aim at Husserl and this legacy. In particular, we will ask: Why has postmodern thought been so popular among those seeking to redress philosophy’s Eurocentrism and male-chauvinism? Does understanding this larger tradition give us better insight into the roots, widespread appeal, and perhaps even certain causes of the so-called postmodern turn? After our survey of this entire history of inquiry, from high-modernist hopes to late-century impasses, we will ask more directly how Baha’i discourse might relate to contemporary philosophy in sympathetic yet non-compromising ways. Lample suggests a constructive call and response approach, writing, “[p]ostmodern critique is, in a way, an effort to define the crisis of the old world order. Baha’u’llah’s teachings are concerned with the resolution of the crisis, addressing what needs to be done during the period of transition to establish a new order” (Lample, 2009). We will then explore the remaining question: how might we contribute to this emerging conversation between Baha’i teachings and contemporary philosophy?
Ney Grant lives in Chicago. He has his M.A. in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Chicago and has a growing interest in independent Bahá’í Studies scholarship. Before returning to graduate school he worked as a case manager in acute inpatient mental health. He currently works as a substitute teacher while he is applying to philosophy and interdisciplinary humanities Ph.D. programs. His intellectual interests lie at the intersection of Islamic studies, continental philosophy, and theology. His M.A. thesis focused on Egyptian and North African Islamic modernists who worked to integrate these fields. Working on questions of temporality in these postcolonial and Islamic contexts, Ney became very intrigued by the unique articulations of modernity in the Bahá’í Writings and the works of Shoghi Effendi.
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