What accounts for the dearth of liberal political philosophies in contemporary debates about the course of democratic development in Iran? This paper argues that a lack of appreciation for the moral doctrine of pluralism (i.e. the notion, a la Isaiah Berlin, that human flourishing has neither a single source nor a singular end) among intellectuals and political actors alike has been a key yet oft-overlooked factor. Since the advent of constitutionalism in modern Iran, a combination of monistic political beliefs, absolutist systems of rule, and foreign interference has stifled the articulation of an indigenous liberal tradition. In this paper, I trace the swift rise and tragic fall of liberal political ideas through both an intellectual and historical history of sustained challenges to value pluralism.
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