Aspects of Reason and Its Theoretical and Practical Functions in Imam Khomeini's Thought

Man is a being, who possess reason, whose rational products guide him in “theory and practice” in his life. These two realms have preoccupied the thinkers since times immemorial. On this basis, Aristotle divided philosophy into two parts of practical and theoretical, which is based on classification of reason into practical and theoretical. The main objective of the present paper is to study the way of the interconnection of these two realms, their dependence or independence and their impacts on each other. Imam Khomeini has discussed this issue. He is critical of the idea that the function of theoretical reason is understanding and that of practical reason is doing thought about acts. He maintains that act is necessary in both the realms of reason and that knowledge and understanding alone is not helpful in theoretical reason. He pays attention to the role of faith in beliefs and convictions, which is not attainable through mere knowledge.