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Presentation of Foundation Ostad Elahi


The Ostad Elahi Foundation – Ethics and Human Solidarity, is a Charitable Foundation recognized by the French State by a decree of the Conseil d’Etat, signed by the Prime Minister on January 27, 2000.
 
It is the Foundation’s aim to achieve a thorough understanding of what ethics and ethical practice are, with a view to promote the spirit of tolerance and solidarity among men.

This ethical approach is inspired by the thought and works of the Iranian philosopher Ostad Elahi (1895-1974), who strongly upholds the idea that personal ethical behaviour is clearly beneficial not only to the individual himself, but also to the society in which he lives. For Ostad Elahi, no spontaneous show of solidarity ever produces tangible and lasting results if it is not backed up with a strong ethical concern that would induce people to make peace primarily with their own selves, by actively cultivating in themselves those qualities that mark out real human beings.

This particular perception of ethics goes beyond any clash of values, since it is rooted in the only common heritage we all share: the spirit –universal and objective- that pervades all spheres of human activity.

Such ethics are based -like those we have inherited from ancient philosophers- on a training process and a daily introspective experience. Yet, how to adapt these ethical principles to contemporary life and what conditions are required to make them fully operative are issues that remain to be solved. The vocation of the Foundation, therefore, is to be particularly receptive to any initiative likely to throw light on the various modalities of ethics. Obviously, such initiatives should uphold open-mindedness and tolerance, which are an essential prerequisite for any secular, rational, or eventually scientific study of the points at issue.  

Since its creation in 2000, the Foundation’s activities have been as follows:

  • Organizing an annual conference on ethics
  • Publishing two or three books or proceedings each year
  • Providing support for research work

After the 9/11 attacks against the World Trade Center in New York, the Foundation set up the “Human Solidarity’s Day”.  Since 2002,  every year, in September, it organizes a public event in order to help defining how to promote universal solidarity and common ethical and spiritual values liable to improve the direction of societies in the future.