Document Type : Original Research

Authors

• Ahmad Sadeqi ¹
• Mohammad Ali Abdollahi ²

¹ Ph.D. Candidate in Imami Theology, Farabi Campus, University of Tehran, Qom, Iran.

² Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy, Farabi Campus, University of Tehran, Qom, Iran.

Abstract

Since society is among the contingent entities, its existence is dependent on Necessary Existence. God, as the agent and creator of the contingent world, grants the existence of society through human wills and actions, in such a way that the existence of society cannot be reconciled with its non-existence. The divine traditions that we can know through the revealed and rational structures are the basis of our existence and all other realities. Just as realism is the precondition of our existence and all scientific and rational theories, divine traditions also -with the same extent and with the same breadth- provide the basis for our individual and social lives. Accordingly, society is a collection of divine traditions and its emergence requires collective action. Divine traditions, as the constitutive principles, play a causal role in the existence and survival of society. This paper, using a descriptive-analytical method, also deals with some consequences of this understanding of society, the most important of which are: the centrality of human primordial nature in perceiving divine traditions and formation of society, reverse predication in predicating tradition upon society, the necessity of immateriality of society, rejecting relativism, and preserving human volition and responsibility.

Keywords

• Divine traditions
• God's agency
• ontology of society
• constitutive principles  

Main Subjects

• Religious Sociology