Iranian intellectuals and the problem of the West: the case study of Shaygan and Enayat

From the 19th century until now, facing the West and its civilizational manifestations is the main problem of non-Western intellectuals and elites, especially in the Islamic world. The type and nature of the answer has been one of the determining factors of various discourses in the Islamic world. In this research, focusing on the opinions of Shaygan and Inayat, the question of what role and position the West has had in the Iranian intellectual discourse has been evaluated. The hypothesis of the research is that the West is one of the main problematics that has received critical and multifaceted attention from Shaygan and Enayat, and the approach of both of them has distinct and special aspects despite having many commonalities. The findings indicate that Enayat and Shaygan, in facing the phenomenon of the West, instead of fighting and conflict, emphasize continuous criticism, deep and two-way understanding, and the need to recognize themselves and achieve a desirable level of progress. In the way of looking at the West, according to their common concerns and interests, some aspects of similarity are: the importance of a more realistic understanding of the phenomenon of the West and its legacy; Projecting critical views and awareness of the historical developments and evolution of oneself and others and the need to recognize and preserve one's traditional values and identity; And the points of distinction are: uniformity and stability of thought and moderation of concern in facing the phenomenon of the West in front of the complex thought rotations of the advocates and the transition from antagonism to coexistence and interactionism. The approach of the analytical-comparative article and the method of data collection was documentary and library.