An Assessment of Shahid Motahhari's Theory of Moral Absoluteness and Behavioral Relativity

Shahid Motahhari views morality and mental qualities as absolute and behavior as relative. The view has led to some critiques including disagreement with religious clear texts, relativity and causing separation between human moral qualities and behavior. Though this theory to some extent is not opposed to some critiques against absolutists and relativists like Kant and Bentham, it still has been considered as something near to relativism; the reasons of such a judgment lies in motahhari`s agreement with the theory of i`tebariat in virtue and vice, hosn and qobh, and giving proofs on the relativity of virtue and vice in some cases as well as clear speaking of relativity of human actions. Intending to keep the theory against the critiques, he has known the norm of moral assessment and the norm of absolutism and relativism originated from human actions` correspondence with human transcendent I that for its being common in all human being would be absolute. The purpose and necessity of the subject consist in assessing the theory to be used for solving the problems of applied ethics and establishing correspondence between theories and actions.