پژوهش نامه مبانی تعلیم و تربیت
سال دوازدهم شماره 2 (پیاپی 24، پاییز و زمستان 1401)

Relying on research and scholarship in the department of philosophy at the University of Tehran, this article seeks to formulate the essential elements of philosophy as an academic discipline and critically examine these elements on the basis of what can be called the “contemporaneity of philosophizing”. In this article, the department of philosophy at the University of Tehran is characterized as the paradigm of academic philosophy—which is due both to its status as the first officially established department of philosophy in Iran, and to the fact that it was the institution in which many current professors of philosophy from other universities have cultivated their knowledge and education. For this reason, focusing on the educational and research concerns of the department of philosophy at the University of Tehran can be an illuminating and pathbreaking inquiry for understanding academic philosophy. This article identifies four crucial components in the 100-year history of the department of philosophy at the University of Tehran which, taken together, can more or less be construed as the distinctive elements of academic philosophy in Iran. In short, these factors are: 1) the centrality of metaphysical issues; 2) the strong presence of Islamic philosophy, including its history and tools (the Arabic language as well as Islamic Theology, logic and mysticism); 3) the permanent presence of comparative philosophy in all of its forms (and thus a dialectic-centric philosophy); 4) concerns about contemporary philosophical issues; 5) the gradual shift towards specialization and technical approaches to history and philosophy in both research and education; and 6) The involvement of some figures from the Philosophy Department in the structure of political power.This article accordingly asks the following questions: to what extent are the issues examined from in each of these five components contemporary philosophical issues? Has the method of reading philosophy in academia given rise to the possibility of inviting to philosophize? Can academic philosophy be concerned with the “conditions for the possibility of establishing philosophical thought in Iran”? Can it participate in shaping such conditions? As a final consideration, this article argues that shedding light on these questions requires critically examining one more distinct, but related issue—namely the relationship between academic philosophy and power.

This paper aims to address the relationship between educational policy-making and metaphysical narratives. It claims that such linkage leads to the production of domination. Traditional narratives of metaphysics consistently long for a homogenous understanding of the essence of objects. However, such a volition is attainable but through the construction of binaries and the neglect of differences. Likewise, establishing higher educational policies based on metaphysical narratives reinforces the aforementioned attribute. Aligned with the subject matter, the methodology of the paper is descriptive, analytical, and critical. The research consists of both primary and secondary sources, especially the Document of Strategic Transformation of Science and Technology and the Document of Comperhensive Scientefic Plan of The Country, which were offered to the researcher. The result indicates that Iran’s higher educational policy-making is influenced by a Platonic and Aristotelian dualism. As a result, such a dualism is explicitly reflected in the theoretical and value foundations of Iran’s higher education documents. One of consequences of such a dualism, among many others, lies in the marginalization of a pole and the inevitable domination of the other. It appears that to resolve such a problematic condition a new philosophical perspective is required so that it might be able to render the possibility of a new distinctive perspective for educational policy-making.

This study is based on a central question in the field of curriculum studies: Can this field be studied in a theological way? In other words, is it possible to consider a field called curriculum theology that deals with the theological study of the knowledge of this field? In the present study, this possibility was investigated in the form of a theoretical inquiry, with a relatively critical look at the secular history of the field of curriculum studies as well as contemporary theoretical studies of the field. In addition, these historical arguments and theoretical possibilities were explained based on some hypotheses in connection with some examples related to contemporary theological turns. The results show that claims can be made about the field of curriculum studies in order to start a new way for the theological studies of the field: many of the fundamental and current issues in the field of curriculum studies are tied to the theological ideas of its experts and in The current situation of this connection is clearly seen in the contemporary theoretical studies of the field. Also, theoretically, it is possible to establish a link between the theological presuppositions and the subjects of curriculum studies for the purpose of theological observation and theorizing. This content is confirmed by both the general presuppositions about the theology of the curriculum and the specific presuppositions about the Islamic theology of the curriculum. Of course, this study is still at the beginning of the introduction of this research area in Iran and needs to be deepened and clarified in future studies.