نشریه جستارهای سیاسی معاصر
سال چهارم شماره 2 (پیاپی 8، تابستان 1392)

According to some theories of the philosophy of political history، civilization is formed when collective challenges and disputes about a public issue is resolved in a non-hostile way. Formation of civilization is highly related to government and bureaucratic structures، which themselves are established based on philosophical-religious، mythical، cultural-intellectual and concrete structures. In this way، politics can be regarded as the art of making things possible using power technologies. The present paper aims to study the Iranshari (''Iranian'') politics in Sassanid era. From this point of view، the aspects and dimensions of Iranshahri’s theory of government is explained through the semantic content analysis of two famous books of political advice، namely Ahd-e Ardeshir and Letter of Tansar. In doing so، linear and orientalist theories were put aside and Iran was considered an ancient civilization with valuable political heritage. The primary research question was: What were the intellectual causes of the rise and fall of the Sassanid dynasty? According to Iranshahri’s theory of government، there were two periods of rise (Ahd-e Ardeshir) and fall (Letter of Tansar) in the Sassanid era. The present paper attempts to investigate the curve of evolution in order to identify the political techniques involved in the rise and fall of the Sassanid dynasty.

The concept of ‘freedom’، which is one of the most important human needs and a main demand of people in the Islamic Revolution of Iran، was manifested in the slogan ‘Independence، Freedom، Islamic Republic’. Among the revolutionary groups، the jurisprudential discourse of the Islamic Revolution led by Imam Khomeini has undoubtedly had a key role in guiding the revolution towards victory and subsequently the political، social and cultural management of society in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The present paper aims to answer the question: How freedom is defined in the jurisprudential discourse of the Islamic Revolution? To this end، the authors explored the concept of freedom from the viewpoint of Imam Khomeini، Ayatollah Mutahhari، Ayatollah Beheshti and Ayatollah Khamenei. Freedom، in the jurisprudential discourse of the Islamic Revolution، is defined in its positive sense as a divine blessing with Quranic basis، and is vital for perfection of society. Thus، the political and social freedom is required for the survival of social system. However، the limits of freedom، in its negative sense، are marked by secular thought.

The constitutional revolution caused profound changes in different areas of Iranian social life. This revolution، which had specific political، social، economic، and religious backgrounds and was affected by the encounter of the elites and Iranian society with the western culture، considerably transformed the concrete and notional foundations of Iranian society. One of the most remarkable matters appeared in the course of the constitutional revolution was the methodological transformation created among the elites and especially clerics of the time as a result of this revolution. According to the research hypothesis، the clerics of the constitutional era، during this period of evolution، moved the central point of their discourses and methodological approaches from Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) to Ilm al-Kalam (Theology). The concern of the clerics of that time was to maintain and protect the religious bases against the opponents through the use of the methodology of Ilm al-Kalam and what is called ‘New Theology’. Ilm al-Kalam is the best ground for identification and analysis of the clerics’ encounter in this era. Using the treatises and writings of the constitutional era، the present study shows how the clerics of that time were engaged in a theological battle to refine the sacred domain of religion from the additives and improper affairs. They regarded it as a reward for the Islamic society as well as themselves، in this world and the hereafter.

With the rise of Reza Shah، modernization of Iran became prevalent at all levels of the government. The judiciary system was no exception to this trend. The approach of the Pahlavi government to the modernization of the judiciary system was to take distance from the laws of ‘Shari’a’ and move towards customary structures. This was opposed by the majority of the Shiite clerics who traditionally considered themselves the authorities of judicial affairs. The present study aims to analyze the role of the clergy in modernization of the judiciary system in the first Pahlavi era and the relationship between the said evolution and the establishment of a modern absolutist state، the government reform plan، and the modernization project. The research hypothesis is as follows: The first Pahlavi government eliminated those Shiite clerics who opposed the customary structures of the modern judiciary system intended by the government. However، a number of clerics remained in the judiciary system in spite of their opposition with the changes in the system and played a significant role. It can be concluded that، despite the establishment of a modern judiciary system in the first Pahlavi era، Shiite clerics and scholars retained their effective positions in the judicial affairs and demonstrated their legislative role through participation in the development and codification of the necessary judicial laws، especially the Islamic Fiqh-based Civil Law.

Behind the aesthetic surface of literary works، there is a process of cultural dynamism، during which a great part of the intellectual systems and the ancient cultural traditions are maintained، valuated، and transferred. Interdisciplinary studies، including anthropological approaches to literature، make a comprehensive understanding of such systems possible. The present paper aims to study the demonstration of political power and its goals as well as the system of political thought in Khaqani Shirvani’s poems–the great poet of the court of Shirvanshah in the sixth century. The basic question of the research lies in understanding the mentioned cases through images، poetic descriptions، and the degree of their match. The purpose is to show the capacity of the selected literary text in describing the anthropological and cultural concepts and to identify and analyze the infrastructures of power as well as the atmosphere of political thought in the time of the poet based on poetic images and data.

The present paper aims to study the actual capacities of the transcendent wisdom in comparison to the Islamic Revolution of Iran. The research question is: What is the philosophical and intellectual background of the Islamic Revolution of Iran? Can such a great revolution lack an intellectual and philosophical background? Having analyzed the views of proponents and opponents، the author has highlighted the dynamic capacity of the transcendent wisdom in the Islamic Revolution، stressing that the wisdom was، and will still be، effective both in the emergence of the Islamic Revolution and in its continuity. The establishment of any required knowledge will be especially based on the scientific and practical dimensions of the mentioned philosophical system. Indeed، the transcendental philosophy supports revolutionary movements due to its view towards human and belief in substantial motion. Critics recognize the influence of the transcendent wisdom over the Islamic Revolution due to the leadership of Imam Khomeini. However، they do not consider the influence full and complete. It seems that the culmination of the Four Journeys، which is the fourth journey، is the Islamic Revolution and the establishment of the Islamic Republic by Imam Khomeini. The transcendent wisdom has had a great influence over the emergence and continuity of the Islamic Revolution. Thus، the elements of the transcendent wisdom can be effective in the revival of the values and the revitalization of the analytical issues of the Islamic Revolution of Iran.

The present paper aims to study the origins, nature, goals, and description of the ideal political system in the practical wisdom of Averroes, and thereby, to examine his typology of different civilizations, functions, government duties, the scope of individual’s freedom, the scope of government’s power, and the relation between the government and people. The study indicated that from the viewpoint of Averroes, ‘wisdom’ is the main criterion for determining the desirability of government and governing system. Averroes seeks the most important functions of the government in the areas of economic justice, security, unity, culture, and public and private training. Personal freedom is defined under the category of ‘justice and dutifulness’, and is circumscribed by the category of ‘unity’. The method applied in this paper was that of descriptive-analytical method, based on the most important political writings of Averroes and the views of some of the commentators on the Córdoban philosopher.