Critique of Hermeneutic Thought of Mujtahid Shabestari, with Adaptation to Philosophical Hermeneutics

Mujtahid Shabestari regards the interpretation of scriptures as subject to the hermeneutic general rule i.e. an understanding based on the logic of question and answer. He believes that, this question and answer are based on the interpreter's pre-knowledge, interests and expectations and the process of understanding is based on a hermeneutic circle, which all of them correspond to the basic bases of the theory of philosophical hermeneutics. Using a descriptive- analytical method the paper studies the hermeneutic thoughts of Shabestari and philosophical hermeneutics with a comparative perspective. The research findings show that, the hermeneutic thought of Mujtahid Shabestari, has an incoherence and internal contradiction, due to the combination of fundamental philosophical and principled analysis of hermeneutics, such as intentionalism, seeking the text's meaning in the historical context, necessity of refining the pre-knowledge and separating valid understanding from an invalid understanding. Also, the hermeneutic thought of Shabestari, which is in line with philosophical hermeneutics, has been criticized.