Philosophy of Religion Research
A New Account of Primordial Nature (Fiṭrah) Theory Based on Morteza Motahari’s Viewpoints and Critical Analysis of the Objections
Document Type : Original Research
Authors
1 Assistant Professor, Department of Islamic Philosophy and Theology, Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
2 Ph.D. Graduate in Islamic Philosophy and Theology, Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
Abstract
The theory of primordial nature (Fiṭrah) has been developed in the Islamic tradition based on Quranic, narrative, mystical, and philosophical foundations. Morteza Motahari, besides these foundations, exploits the potentials of modern sciences and philosophies and tries to propose a more comprehensive account of this theory than other Muslem thinkers. This paper, using text-oriented analytical interpretation, provides a new account of the theory of Fiṭrah based on Motahari’s perspectives, taking into accont the most imporatan objection directed to this theory and depending on Mulla Sadra’s psychology. The ontological, anthropological, epistemological, and methodological principles of this novel accont are as follows: 1. Innate (Fiṭrī) ontology is based on accepting truth, reality, the concrete world, the Origin and the Return. 2.Human beings face these realities and truths and access the with their cognitive and tendency-based dimension. 3.Human being is a unitary identity that is not separated from nature, instinct, and Fiṭrah. 4.Human being using his/her free will can move in the direction of instincts or Fiṭrī and creates an instinctive or Fiṭrī construct for him/herself. 5.According to Fiṭrah theory, both intellectual cognition and emotional tendencies represent reality. 6.According to innate epistemology, cognitive Fiṭrah and tendency-based Fiṭrah are two intertwined aspects of knowledge and have a kind of unity.7. In theory of Fiṭrah, the methods of syllogism, intuition, narration, and induction have been considered valid. 8. This theory is based on different methods that can gurantee objectivity concreteness. 9. This multifaceted method can more easily relate philosophy to sciences, so that the scientists can use philosophical theories.
Keywords
- primordial nature (Fiṭrah)
- Morteza Motahari
- ontological foundation
- anthropological foundations
- epistemological foundations
- methodological foundations
Main Subjects
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