Allameh Tabataba i's Contingents: A Basis for a Philosophical Design for Culture

Allameh Tabataba’i’s ‘contingent perception’ comes to thought in the subject of epistemology, though contingent perception should not be limited to this field. It appears that Allameh Tabataba’i has proposed this discussion with a novel perception of humankind and the world and by his presence in the mindset of the modern world. To discover such a perception, one must pay attention to the ‘realm’ of Contingents instead of focusing the mind on contingent perceptions. If we study the sixth article in the book The Principles of Philosophy and the Method of Realism with a consideration toward the thought pattern in the West that has led to philosophical reflections about ‘culture’, the correctness of this understanding is revealed. If we consider the emersion context for the mindset of intellectuals such as Rousseau, Vico and Herder about civilization and culture and follow the approach of these scholars to the field of culture, we can then understand the approach of Allameh Tabataba’i to questions which have been addressed by contingent perceptions. If we read the contingent perceptions theory with this method, and pay attention to the similarities in perceptions and different historical contexts, an opportunity for beginning a new dialogue about ‘culture and its elements’ between Islamic school of thought and those which have generated from European culture. The understanding of this article is that the subject of Contingents, considering its instruments and results, can be proposed as a substitute theory alongside other philosophical theories regarding culture. In other words, Allameh’s theory of Contingents can act as basis for answering questions about in the field of ‘the philosophy of culture’.