Explaining the Components of the Mutual Relationship Between Social Factors and Types of Knowledge; A Comparative Study of Max Scheler’s and Tabatabai’s Viewpoints

The problem of mutual relationship between social factors and types of knowledge, which is called "social determination of knowledge", is the external objectivity of knowledge from a social point of view or the impression and identification that different types of human knowledge receive from social factors. The components of this mutual relationship include depth, degree, level, dominant factor and subject. Muhammad Husayn Tabatabai believes that apart from obvious, present, general theoretical knowledge and some general practical knowledge, the rest of knowledge is under the influence of biological, environmental, unseen and social cultural factors that this effect is contingent and does not even reach the stage of causation. The main focus of these epistemological developments is the credibility, especially the post-social credibility, which is completely socially determined. Max Scheler proposed the form and content of knowledge, which considers the content immune from social determination and considers only the form of knowledge to be socially determined. Of course, Tabatabai and Scheler both believe that there is no causality between the community and knowledge and the influence of the community is only to the extent necessary. According to Scheler's opinion, spiritual and real factors jointly determine knowledge. Of course, only the three forms of knowledge of religion, philosophy and science are targeted for determination. Therefore, the extract of Tabatabai's theory goes back to the discussion of validity and Scheler's theory of the form and content of knowledge.