Welcome to the website of the Philosophy Special Interest Group (SIG) of the Association of Bahá’í Studies. The purpose of this website is to make available papers that have been presented at the annual conferences of the Association for Bahá’í Studies (ABS). Inspired by the following words from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, we may think of this website as an intellectual garden:
Consider the flowers of a garden: though differing in kind, colour, form and shape, yet, inasmuch as they are refreshed by the waters of one spring, revived by the breath of one wind, invigorated by the rays of one sun, this diversity increaseth their charm, and addeth unto their beauty. (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 291)
Here we will find many and various flowers of thought all of which are grounded in the revelation of Bahá’u’lláh but all of which manifest this revelation in a different way. Making these papers available will accomplish four things. First, it will build a public record of what has actually been accomplished by the Philosophy SIG at ABS.
Second, it will permit those who could not attend the Bahá’í Studies conference or the Philosophy SIG sessions to read the various papers. In addition, it will allow those who did attend to refresh their memories of what was said.
Third, it will encourage response papers, discussion and blogging about the subjects raised in the presentations, or even other matters related to philosophy and the Bahá’í Writings. Hopefully such discussions will become on-going year-round debates since the Writings are incredibly rich with resources for such studies and discussions.
Finally, it is hoped that the site will inspire more Bahá’ís and seekers with philosophical interests to present papers (no matter how short) at future Association for Bahá’í Studies conferences. We need more flowers in the garden!
Ian Kluge,
Philosophy SIG Coordinator