Monism and Pluralism in Transcendent Political Philosophy

Monism and pluralism are among the important issues in the history of political philosophy, and the tendency of political philosophers towards any of them can affect all the aspects of their political philosophy. Throughout history, political philosophers have presented various different views on these two issues. Sadr al-Muta’llehinn’s position in the history of Islamic philosophy urges us to examine this issue in the transcendent philosophy. Political philosophers sometimes adopt an extreme approach to monism and pluralism and sometimes, however, they take a moderate position moderation, which is referred to as moderate monism and pluralism. The proponents of extreme approach to monism deny plurality and the supporters of extreme plurality deny monism, whereas adopting a moderate approach strikes a balance between monism and plurality in the political arena. Sadr al-Muta’hellin adopts a moderate approach to monism and pluralism and emphasizes on the necessity of either of them in political life. Sadr al-Muta’hellin’s approach is based on his principles in existence, man and finality, and stresses the necessity of paying attention to monism and plurality simultaneously. When we review the components of monism and pluralism in transcendent political philosophy, we notice that the moderate approach which he adopts is quite evident and he tries to strike a balance between the components of extreme monism and pluralism.