Allamah Ṭabāṭabāī’s Innovations in Realist Philosophy of Action

There is a fundamental psychological question of why and how human voluntary actions can be carried out. Some accounts of this question can drastically change many explanations and prescriptions given on man’s life in the different branches of humanities. Nonetheless, Islamic ethics and the training based on it more clearly need to provide a precise explanation as to the process of human will and action. Using an explanatory and analytic method, this paper first looks at the current views in this area, and then shows the superiority of Allamah Ṭabāṭabāī’s view over the alternative positions. His view relies on the psychological phenomenon of acknowledgement which he developed and analyzed in his work on philosophy of action. He gives an innovative account of the relation between the inner and outer worlds which satisfies the realistic requirements of Islamic ethics. Having certain advantages over other views, this account avoids voluntarism and relativism.