Reasoning within the Domain of Etebāriāt (Institutional Propositions)

E`tebāriāt is an outstanding question in modern Islamic philosophy and Ūsūl al-Fiq. It did not use to be discussed as a separate subject in the traditional Islamic philosophy until `Allāmah Tabātabā’ī propounded it in Foundations of Philosophy and Method of Realism. In Ūsūl al-Fiq, there were only scattered discussions, under different topics and without enough depth. Now there are many different questions, some of which have been addressed and discussed in detail in my lectures on philosophy of Ūsūl al-Fiq. One important question in this connection is whether logical reasoning can be given within the domain of E`tebāriāt. Tabātabā’ī and his great student, Mutahhari, argued that logical reasoning can not be given within that domain. Contrary to these philosophers, the writer thinks that such reasoning can be set forth and represents a developed discussion to prove that their views on it are not true.