نشریه مطالعات اخلاق کاربردی
شماره 22 (زمستان 1389)

Zealotry is one of the ethical concepts to which the scholars in ethics have always devoted a massive discussion. In books of Islamic traditions it has also been greatly discussed. This term at first was used by the seventh century Muslim Philosopher and Sociologist Ibn Khaldūn (732-808). It is believed that his theory about Zealotry as a stimulating power is his most important accomplishment. He placed the theory of "zealotry" as a basis in the center of his view regarding political sociology and epistemology and created an interesting point for social solidarityIbn Khaldun attributes the formation of a political society, the concentration of authority, establishment and survival of government, the foundation of civilization and advent of the religions to "Zealotry".In this essay, the views of this great scholar have been reconsidered and the positive and negative points involved in his views have been identified using quranic verses and Islamic traditions.

The present article deals with the ethical norms derived from the poems of Sā'ebTabrizi. While discussing the political and social situations of Safavid's era during whichSā'ebwas living, some of the ethical schools which had great impact on the thought of this honorable poet will be introduced. Based on the researches demonstrated in the essay, we will conclude, although Sā'eb mentioned different ethical views, he tried to maintain his own ethical system and conveyed that to his audience. He also expressed ideas which indicates he has been somehow influenced by the two ancient ethical schools namely Stoicism and Cynics.

Appreciation as a divine attributeand an ethical, human virtue has always had special function in the history of human beings. In Ethics, appreciation is referred to as a virtue while it has been revered by almost all religions especially by Islam. Recently even psychologists have become interested in it. In psychology, appreciation is regarded as a sacred and moral excitement which has a lot of positive consequences. These consequences have been proved by scientific experiments. In this article, first the definition of appreciation in the view of Islam, ethics and psychology is reviewed, then in an experimental research the relationship between appreciation towards God and being satisfied with life is discussed. According to this study, appreciation towards God will always lead to positive consequences one of which is life satisfaction. Also, other positive changes can be predicted. Increasing positive religious sensation such as appreciation towards God would result in better living in general.

Misbāh al-Hidaya which is one of the mystical text of the seventh century and written by 'Izo al-Din Mahmud Kāshani, includes a section regarding moral behaviors. It is stated in this section that the mysticism and morality are equal and consequently all the virtues of this world and hereafter lie in morality. According to a recent ethical analysis, the morality stems from five agents: purification of nature, good habit, wisdom, faith and monotheism. The author of the book extracts moral behaviors, confirmed by mysticism, from prophetic sayings and scholar's opinions and concludes that the ultimate goal of religion is to preach moral behaviors. He lists the most important moral qualities which are also recommended by God as: truth, altruism, being content, humiliation, patience, forgiveness, beneficence, cheerfulness, delight, and affection. He points out that these ethical principles can solve the individual and social problems in today's world.The present essay would point to the ethical discussions presented in some early mystical works and then provides the readers with a report on the morality section of the book Misbāh al-Hidaya.

Immanuel Kant, the influential philosopher of modern time, has been regarded as a turning point in the history of western thought. His critical views indicate his great and precise attempts and make him one of the best thinkers of the modern era. In recent years, there has been increasing attention from thinkers and experts in various fields towards Kant's views which shows the significance of this philosopher.Kant has influential works in both epistemology and ethics and as a result his works are regarded as one of the most coherent and systematic works among scientists. Thus, to appreciate his views in ethics and religion, one should master his other ideas in the field of epistemology and philosophy of science as well.As it is inferred from his views in ethics, Kant supports deontological theory in ethics. In short, he believes that only acts that are done to fulfill a duty and task are counted as moral and the ones done because of the doer's interest or willingness cannot be valuable or ethical. In this essay I will try to explore the development of Kant's views and the way he ended up to this theory in ethics. Also, I will try to clarify the question that whether or not he was really in favor of deontology. At the end the relationship between his ideas regarding epistemology and ethics will be briefly discussed.

The purpose of the present article is to examine the influence of the ethical propositions suggested in Nahj al-Balāqa over the texts of the Persian literature expressed in four works written between the third and seventh centuries,i.eQabūsnāme, KĪmĪyāyeSa'ādat, KelĪlevaDemne, and Qulastān. Since the literary figures and scholars from the early times of developing Persian literature had special attention to Quran and Traditions and beautified their works with the teachings gained through these two divine sources, we begin with probing the influence of these two sources on the four mentioned works and will demonstrate some instances of this influence.Most authors of literary works besides Quran paid great attention to the speeches and sermons of Imam Ali (a) and used his eloquent wordings and highly valuable concepts in their own works. This influence is, however beyond just the concept and manifests in form of translation, theme adoption and quotation, etc. as well.