Reconstructing Laclau and Mouffe's Discourse Theory of Identity Based on Ayatollah Shahabadi's Theory of Fitrat

Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory while it aims at analyzing discourses, is a theory of formation of individual and collective identities. In this article, by replacing Ayatollah Shahabadi’s theory of fitrat (instinct) for Lacan’s theory of unconscious employed by Laclau and Mouffe, the ground is made for transforming their discourse theory of identity into one with religious orientation. The consequences of such a synthesis include defending a more vigorous role for the subject in adopting personal identity, improving the theory’s explanatory strength, making theory more social, detaching it from the orientation toward the identity as a sheer cultural and historical phenomenon and the product of struggle with others in favor of one that is the product of coherence or contrast between the human nature and the others. The result of the study could exemplify the expurgatory approach in the production of religious sciences. The method used in this research is descriptive, explanatory, and critical.