An Investigation into the Position of Conceptualization and Judgment in Perception of God from Allameh Tabatabaii's Viewpoint

The present paper investigates the position of conceptualization and judgment in the perception of God according to 'Allameh Tabatabaii's view. If we review the course of development of the arguments concerning theology, we will see that most of the problems existing in the discussions about God originate from not achieving this claim and from misconceiving the subject, and this has influenced the criticism of the arguments concerning theology in the west. Having stressed this point and believing that the existence of God and His pre-eternal necessity is a prior axiom and beyond argument, Allameh Tabatabaii associates perception of God to the primordial nature and talks about the innateness of acquired knowledge and intuitive knowledge of God. This paper investigates the subject of fitrah (nature) both existentially and epistemologically in the light of 'Allameh Tabatabaii's viewpoint. "Rightfulness" and "rationality" of the belief in God have been analyzed and expounded on the basis of the epistemological view about nature. Among the main concerns of this paper are: exploring the causes of misconception of God, discussing the subject of nature both existentially and epistemologically, and epistemological separation of rightfulness and rationality of the belief in God.