A Study and Critique of the Theory of the Total Susceptibility of Human Thought to Objective and Subjective Circumstances based on Shahid Motahhari’s Views

Document Type : The Quarterly Jornal

Author

Assistant professor, Department of Islamic Teachings, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran

Abstract

The problem of total susceptibility of thoughts to objective (social) and subjective (individual) circumstances is a major issue propounded by some schools of thought, such as Sophism, humanism, and existentialism. On these accounts, the human thought or mind is the criterion of the truth, and any thought is susceptible to objective (social) and subjective (individual) circumstances. This article draws on the descriptive-analytical and critical method to analyze and criticize this theory in accordance with Shahid Motahhari’s works and views. It answers the following question: Is any thought fully susceptible to its subjective and objective circumstances? The results show that the theory is true of purely materialistic people whose logic or rationale is that of self-interest, and not true of those whose logic is that of innate nature (fiţra) and are trained in the divine school. Furthermore, this theory denies the existence of a reality, holding that the human thought is a product of, and susceptible to, its subjective and objective circumstances, without assigning any autonomy or freedom to human thinking, while humans have the freewill and awareness to avoid the impacts of their subjective and objective circumstances. This theory is based on materialism, skepticism (relativism), and a generalization of the principle of interaction of things and thoughts. It is subject to several objections, including the relativity of truth, denial of the possibility of error in human thoughts, invalidity of all philosophies and thoughts (both divine and material).

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

*The Quran.
*Nahj al-Balagha.
1.    Arefi, A. (1379 AP). Mind-object interaction. Zehn, 1(2), pp. 112-125. [In Persian]
2.    Arefo. A. (1383 AP). History of relativism in philosophy of science. Zehn, 5(19), pp. 41-62. [In Persian]
3.    Aristotle. (1390 AP). Metaphysics. (M. H. Lotfi Tabrizi, Trans.). Tehran: Tarh-e Now Publication.
4.    Babapour, S; Shanazari, J.; Dehbashi, M. (1393 AP). Mind-world correspondence in Mullā Ṣadrā’s thought. Philosophy of science, 4(1), pp. 1-20. [In Persian]
5.    Bayat, A. (1381 AP). Lexicon. Qom: Religious Thought and Culture Institute. [In Persian]
6.    Copleston, F. (1380 AP). History of Philosophy. (S. J. Mojtabavi, Trans.). Tehran: Soroush Publication. [In Persian]
7.    Gottlieb, A. (1383 AP). The Dream of Reason: A History of Philosophy from the Greeks to the Renaissance. (L. Sazegar, Trans.). Tehran: Qoqnoos Publication. [In Persian]
8.    Hasanat Center for Publication and Promotion of the Islamic Culture in Isfahan. (1389 AP). A survey of the realm of ethics. Qom: Sahifeh Kherad Publication. [In Persian]
9.    Hashemi Khoei, H. (1400 AH). Minhāj al-barāʿa fī sharḥ nahj al-balāgha. (H. Hassanzadeh Amoli and M. B. Kamarei, Trans.). Tehran: Maktabat al-Islamiyya. [In Arabic]
10.    Hilli, H. (1412 AH). Al-Qawāʿid al-jaliyya fī sharḥ al-risālat al-shamsiyya. (F. Hassoun Tabrizian, Ed.). Qom: Islamic Publication Office. [In Arabic]
11.    Hollingdale, R. J. (1387 AP). History of the Western Philosophy. (A. Azarang, Trans.). Tehran: Qoqnoos Publication. [In Persian]
12.    Imanpour, M. (1382 AP). The problem of mind-world correspondence in Peripatetic Philosophy and Transcendent Wisdom. Journal of Faculty of Literature and Humanities, 46(186), pp. 23-49. [In Persian]
13.    Javadi Amoli, A. (1397/07/15 AP). The strong soul connects human thought and will. Isra. https://zaya.io/jnafk. [In Persian]
14.    Karimi Vala, M. R. (1392 AP). People’s political status in the Islamic approach and the Western political thought in accordance with knowledge. Islamic Government: The Quarterly Journal of the Secretariat of the Assembly of Experts for Leadership, 18(3), pp. 135-160. [In Persian]
15.    Khansari, M. (1363 AP). Formal logic. Tehran: Agah Publication. [In Persian]
16.    Khunaji, A. (1373 AP). Kashf al-asrār ʿan ghawāmiḍ al-afkār. (H. Ebrahimi and M. Poursina, Ed.). Tehran: University of Tehran Press. [In Persian]
17.    Mawlawi. (1371 AP). Mathnawi Maʿnawi. (R. Nicholson, Ed.). Tehran: Pajoohesh Publication. [In Persian]
18.    Mohammad Alizadeh, M.R. (1386 AP). Critiques of the science of logic and a reply. Maʿārif ʿaqlī, 2(5), pp. 69-92. [In Persian]
19.    Motahhari, M. (1395 AP). Collected works (Vols. 2, 4, 13, 15). Tehran: Sadra. [In Persian]
20.    Motahhari, M. (1396 AP). God in the human thought. (5th Ed.). Tehran: Sadra. [In Persian]
21.    Motahhari, M. (1397 AP). God in the human thought. (8th Ed.). Tehran: Sadra. [In Persian]
22.    Nasri, A. (1382 AP). Philosophy of creation. Qom: Maʿarif Publication. [In Persian]
23.    Niazi, A. A. (1388 AP). The relation of mental existence and the value of knowledge for Motahhari. Maʿārif ʿaqlī journal, 4(14), pp. 137-164. [In Persian]
24.    Plato. (1366 AP). Collected works. (M.H. Lotfi and R. Kaviani, Trans.). Tehran: Kharazmi Publication. [In Persian]
25.    Razi, Q. (1382 AP). Taḥrīr al-qawāʿid al-manṭiqiyya fī sharḥ al-risālat al-shamsiyya. (M. Bidar, Ed.). Qom: Bidar Publication. [In Persian]
26.    Sadat Hosseini, F. (1395 AP). A study and crtiqiue of Sophistic epistemology in Plato’s view. Justārhāyi falsafī, 12(29), pp. 43-66. [In Persian]
27.    Tusi, N. (1370 AP). Ajwiba masāʾil al-Sayyid Rukn al-Dīn al-Astarābādī. (T. Izutsu, Ed.). Tehran: University of Tehran Press. [In Persian]
28.    Zehni Tehrani, M. J. (1367 AP). Al-Kalām al-ghanī, sharḥ Farsi bar bāb rābiʿ Mughnī. Qom: Hazegh

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics