In an article antitled “Belles-Lettres, Ethics and Didactic Literature: Thoughts on Three Concepts in Iranian Culture,” Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak poses the question whether the large body of andarz literature, “…may be said to form…‘the grammar of ethical thought’ in Persian.” The author briefly reviews the most recent scholarship on the subject, including Charles-Henri de Fouchécour's comprehensive and singular work, and concludes by calling for the necessity of close analyses of works of andarz from rhetorical, cultural, and social perspectives. It is through such close analyses, he maintains, that we can begin to understand “the grammar of ethical thought in Persian.”
Karimi-Hakkak underscores the pragmatic aspect of andarz literature. As de Fouchécour also observes, ‘The point of departure was…not a set of moral precepts, but convenience: Morality was knowing how to live in society (farhang, adab).” The authors of andarz literature provided both general and specific directives as to how one could best live in society.