:Hi Dr.Omira welcome to Iran, please introduce yourself and tell us about your Carrere in general-
I’m from Ireland actually, I was born in Ireland. It is a small country.
When I say Ireland I mean south Ireland the Republic for Ireland that is very important.
I did my university’s studies in England, and then I finished them in France. I also did some postwar researching in Germany, so I’m a multi-cultural organism. It’s true that Ireland is a small country, but I always interested to see other places, my mentality is always go out to see other countries, other cultures and learn their languages.
?How did you see Iran and the level of philosophical studies in Iran-
I don’t know Iran very much because I arrived yesterday, and this is my first time visit Iran, so I’ve seen nothing. But I know bit about Iran from the view of history of philosophy, and great admiration for Iranian philosophy.
I know that Iran has very high culture, philosophical culture in Iran is magnificent, and I think it is very important to refer this matter that Iranian are cultivating in their past philosophy, and it is very important, other countries are abandoning their cultural heritage specially in philosophy for example I think this is happening in Germany.
Germany has a great cultural philosophical heritage, but they seem to be ignored and I think this is very important, and I also have seen this in the west of Europe where the media talk about Iran and I refuse to accept this. It’s a negative and simplified picture and I can’t accept it personally. I wanted to come and see Iran myself. I don’t believe what I don’t like propaganda war, so this is not reason I came, I also wanted to meet Iranians, didn’t want to come as a tourist I wanted to come and meet colleagues and talk to them. This is best way of understand another culture.
?let’s talk about Intercultural philosophy and its relationship between Islamic and Greek philosophy-
You should not know that I am a historian actually I’m interested in past and my specialty is Greek philosophy and more recently I’ve been looking at philosophy of Islamic world in medieval period, and the first reason I did this became that Greek philosophy survived only in Arabic translations not Greek, and so this is fascinating, and then I started to read Islamic philosophers, I discovered they are very good philosophers, I became very interested in their works.
.So as you said there is a kind of relationship between Islamic and Greek philosophy-
I published a book in English with Cambridge University press it’s a book on Plato about the relation between cosmology and politics, but I’m in interested Plato’s works not just as a historian, but I think Plato is writing for future generations and his philosophy is kind of philosophy that speaks even today to us, his philosophy indicate us how we can produce a better relationship between human society happiness and nature. I believe Plato was going to show great them and also important thing.