An Analysis of the Role of Epistemology in Producing Religious Knowledge in Allama Tabatabai’s View

One of the important philosophical foundations in producing religious knowledge is the epistemological foundation. The main questions in epistemology are related to the nature and possibility of cognition, its domain and types, its value and validity. The present study uses an analytical approach to studying documents to explore the role of philosophical foundations in producing religious knowledge with an emphasis on epistemological foundations in Allama Tabatabai’s view. The findings of the study, on the one hand, show that in Allama’s view, by cognition, we mean the knowledge and awareness in general. The possibility of cognition and realization of knowledge is axiomatic and needless of reasoning. The cognition tool is, in proportion to the domain of cognition, either the five sense, the intellect, the heart, the revelation, or the traditions. In the cognition domain, the non-sensible and immaterial things are there as well. The highest value of cognition is related to the certain cognition. On the other hand, it is possible to produce certain knowledge in general and religious knowledge in particular. Access to religious knowledge is not a dead end for the man. This is because all conventional tools of human knowledge are working for producing science, and in producing science, one can use any method in proportion to the subject, or even use various methods eclectically.