About the Author

Garifolla Yesim is a professor of philosophy who currently serves, since 2001, as Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and Political Science at Kazakh National University in Almaty,

Kazakhstan. He is a seasoned scholar of top national honors who contributes regularly to national television and radio programs as well as newspaper, magazine and journal publications. He has published numerous books and articles in both Kazakh and Russian, including The Elite Scholar Abai (1994), The Essence of Mind: Reflections on Politics and Culture (1995-2007, 10 vols), A History of Islamic Philosophy (2000/2004), Human-ity (2001), Kazakh Philosophy (2005) and Kazakh Renaissance (2006). He is a Muslim Kazakh scholar of the post-Soviet era who advocates peace and tolerance as well as freedom of thought and expression in the course of open, academic inquiry and interreligious-intercultural world dialogue.