نشریه معرفت سیاسی
سال سوم شماره 1 (پیاپی 5، بهار و تابستان 1390)

"Political obligation" is a concept which consists of the idea of "obligation" and "political". The word "obligation" is associated with assignment, compulsion, and duty, and it has close connection with such concept like legitimacy and authority. The word "political" governs the domain of obligation or compulsion, and has close relation with such fields as ethics and religion. At first glance, the nature of such obligations seems different from social, religious, economic obligations but, the necessity to morally justify obligation in the discussion of political obligation inevitably makes it part of the ethical issues. Anyway, there have been many discussions on the concept, content, and nature of political obligation and its relationship with moral obligations and with what things are, including what voluntary actions are.Showing the conceptual difference between the synonymous words, the present paper tries to find a way to the real meaning of political obligation in order to discuss its justifying nature from the view of determinism, deontology, and finalism.

Different views have been presented about the kind of interaction between the clerics and Islamic government. One of them is that the clerics are at the service of and subject to Islamic government and that it is incumbent on all people, including the clerics, to obey all its institutions as part of their religious duty towards the Islamic government. Another view is that Islamic government should be governed by the clerics and that in the Islamic government which is the conduct for implementing divine bounds it is the religious scholars and religious authorities who take this responsibility. According to this view, the Islamic government has to be headed by the clerics as religious leaders. Another view which principally rejects the idea of the relationship between religion and politics and distinguishes the presence and mission of the clerics form those of the government. Finally, there is a view that backs the idea of the relationship between religion and politics, but ignores the relationship between the clerics and government and stresses the idea of setting up an Islamic government but without the clerics. Each one of these views originates from the way its advocates perceive such things like the clerics and Islamic government, the relationship between religion and society, Islam and government, Islam and the clerics, the clerics and society, etc.Expounding the concepts and principles of the subject matter of this topic and investigating the different views about it, the present paper investigates and provides a model which is consistent with the political philosophy of Islam and identical to the political thought of Imam Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic system.

Insight is a kind of vision that results from sound and correct cognition which coupled with faith and certainty, provided that it is not influenced by excitements, inhuman instincts and selfish and satanic temptations, and it precisely specifies the applicability of the truth. The importance and necessity of insight must be sought during the course of riots and it aims to deepen cognition, deep-root faith, control worldly temptations and recognize the applicability of the truth to achieve the high ideals of all people i.e. to establish a just government. According to the stated definition, the components of insight are certain cognition, inner faith and belief, controlling negative tendencies, and recognizing the applicability of the truth.

The present paper investigates Mohsin Mahdi's political thought and the importance of his role in the extension of Islamic political philosophy in the West. His interpretation of political Islamic thought is based on the relationship between "reason" and "revelation" and their transcendental role in "politics". Also, his attempt to recognize Farabi's political philosophy has given rise to a new interpretation of the tradition of western political philosophy. He not only attempted to revitalize the texts of political Islamic thought and extend their contents, but also trained a generation of professors and scholars who have founded Mahdi school in the scientific circles of the West and extended the approach he developed to interpreting political philosophy, political Islamic philosophy, and also western political philosophy.

Methodology is one of the subjects which is taken care of in different fields of human science and in naturally has a particular importance and application in some dynamic and multi–dimensional domains such as politics. Due to the importance of political issues, one of the most important domains in politics is political philosophy, which has been discussed as one of the main branches of political knowledge for a long time. Therefore, the present paper investigates the methodology of political philosophy. The research method is descriptive –analytical. For a long time, Several methods have been used in political philosophy or it has been claimed so. Therefore, this paper reviews them, and then suggests and studies the efficient method used in political philosophy.

The tolerance theory is one the theoretical achievements of the West which has been part of the political and philosophical discourse of pseudo-intellectual trend in the Third World countries for more than a century. The roots of this theory in the contemporary world must be sought in the Renaissance and the following centuries. John Locke is one of the first philosophers who wrote an independent treatise on this subject. In this treatise, he tries to expound the reasons and causes of necessity of civil ruler's tolerant treatment with different social classes explaining the scope of tolerance and mechanisms to extend it to social life.Expounding the grounds for the appearance of this theory in the Western world, the present paper tries to analyze and criticize its theoretical principles. Giving detailed explanation of these principles does not mean accepting them; rather, it aims at understanding the intellectual backgrounds that encouraged Locke and other theorists of tolerance to present it and promote it.

Fundamentalism is a religious movement which takes for granted the return to the principles and fundamentals. Its main concern is transition from modernism and return to traditions. Among the main characteristics of the fundamentalist trends including Christian fundamentalism are dogmatism, emphasis on comprehensiveness of religion, anti-secularism, and emphasis on violence as a means to achieve the goals. The fundamentalist movements have tried to exert influence on their surrounding environment to accept their approach.The present paper investigates the influence of the doctrines of Christian fundamentalism on the foreign policy of the United States of America in four domains: the support for Israel, the collapse of communism, America's policy in the Middle East, and expansion of militarism in the U.S.A