نشریه معرفت فرهنگی اجتماعی
سال سوم شماره 2 (پیاپی 10، بهار 1391)

The question of the identity, authenticity and structure of society which is considered one of the principles of theoretical philosophy of history is worth inquiry and speculation, to which there are different approaches. Thinker's fundamental theories on this issue are influenced by a kind of interpretation and approach ascribed to the existence of society and used as philosophically substantiated arguments. In the meantime, the dialectical apprehension of these two, the close relation between these two levels of abstraction and the deep correlation between micro-level and macro- level in the thoughts of past and current thinkers have always been the philosophical concerns which have led to many scientific speculations. Although many social scientists hold that there is an interaction between society and individual in terms of the interrelation between structural and behavioral aspects, they tend to accept the idea that there is a unidirectional relationship between the two levels. What is important here is to discover the view of the Quran about this issue and extract the approach to this mutual interaction and see what influence they have on one another, the point which the present paper tries delve into.

Nowadays, the extensive debates on indigenization and Islamization of knowledge show the necessity of extracting and expounding the Islamic view on the basic issues of social sciences including sociology. However, there are two approaches to explaining the Islamic human sciences: the first is rejecting the existing achievements and establishing a new scientific paradigm and the second is making use of the existing sciences, and modifying and improving them according to Islamic teachings. Using a documentary method based on the second approach and a comparative study as a basic research method in social sciences, the present paper elaborates on the concept of action in the light of famous western thinker's views, the viewpoint of the Quran and traditions, and compares between them. Contrary to most western theories which have dealt with a two-variable one-dimensional analysis of action, Islam touches through its comprehensive analysis on the mental, physical, natural, and social dimensions of the development of action and considers actor, freedom, opportunity, facilities and motivation (intention) as the main basic elements of action.

One of the questions that have for long been the concern of Iranian thinkers and intellectuals is the subject of indigenous criteria and indigenization, and so several versions have been presented in this respect. This idea was first mooted in response to the colonization and influence of western culture and then it developed gradually. Such concepts like indigenous and Islamic science are the outcome of the discussions. Having reviewed the history of Al Ahmad's political thoughts and activities, the present paper investigates how indigenization- as a historical concept came into Al Ahmad's literary, political, and intellectual activities and then developed to prepare the ground for having a kind of indigenous human sciences. The studies show that during 1320 to 1340 (solar) Al Ahmad gradually approached the indigenous life of Iranian people and Islamic- Shiite worldview under the influence of such factors like western and Iranian intellectual's literary and theoretical tradition, political events of the time and his traditional-religious education. In some cases, he modified his modern and intellectual view in favor of Islamic tradition.

The present paper tries to shed light on the cultural situation in Hejaz in the period before the Holy Prophet's mission in order to get familiar with the sources which contributed to the culture. The methodological strategy used for this purpose is to study the works of historians, identify the sources influencing the culture before Holy Prophet's mission and make a conceptual or applied analysis of these sources in the light of historical documents in order to see how effective these sources are. The research findings refer to some of the important sources which influence the development of culture in the period before the Holy Prophet's mission. This paper discusses two of these sources, that is, the nature and inter-cultural relations and their role in developing the culture of Hejaz.

Social thought always develops in a historical context related to a particular culture and each context has a significant role in the formation of the social thought of any thinker. The present paper studies Dr. Soroush's social thought from epistemological, ontological and anthropological perspectives and depicts his social thought in a social, cultural and political context. Dr. Soroush is a contemporary Iranian thinker and intellectual. Therefore, his thought ought to be explored in the light of the intellectual trend. He has relativistic view in epistemology, has tends towards liberal anthropology anthropological foundations and he provides a romantic anthropology in some of his works. He has an inclination towards German idealism (concrete) in his thoughts. Although different phases are noticed in his thoughts, and in each phase the intellectual ground can be found.

Rationality has some applications in philosophy, sociology, economics, logic, and other disciplines each of which needs to be discussed separately. Dr. Ṭāhā ‘Abd al-Rahmān, a contemporary Moroccan philosopher and thinker, has introduced the theory of rationality, making use of the achievements of modern sciences and based his ideas on authentic Islamic sciences. The present paper discusses with the methodology of his theory of rationality. While conceding the effectiveness of empirical method and instrumental rationality in some fields, this paper holds that this method is incomplete and the idea of restricting rationality to it will leads to man's degradation.

There are different ways to establish the idea of the possibility and necessity of having Islamic management. One of the most appropriate ways is to refer to philosophical teachings. The present paper seeks to study Islamic management through discussing the idea of possibility and necessity in philosophy. To this end, first the possibility of having an Islamic management in terms of affirmation and realization is reviewed. Then, the necessity of having Islamic management is discussed through criticizing the positivistic methodology and reviewing its epistemic system based on critical realism. Finally, the capacities of transcendent philosophy are examined and critical realism is criticized for establishing a methodological foundation for Islamic management based on the principles of Șadrian philosophy.