نشریه پژوهش های فلسفی
پیاپی 35 (تابستان 1400)

Scientificprogress is one of the topics that has always been considered in the philosophy of science and various accounts have been presented as regards the occurrence of progress.One of the most important challenges in progress is the radical changes in scientific theories, i.e. scientific revolutions.Kuhn considers these revolutions to be discontinuities in the history of science. Although he acknowledges progress in the normal science period by referring to the puzzle solving, he fails to explain the progress in scientific revolutions by proposing the incommensurability of paradigms.In contrast, Bhaskar by describing the stratified world, considers science as a continuous process with the aim of achieving causal mechanisms and structures, discovers and describes new and deeper layers. He explains progress on this basis and believes that sciencehas the potentiality of both change and progress. The present essay discusses the progress theories offered by Bhaskar and Kuhn. Also we compare the epistemological and ontological aspects of these perspectives in order to investigate Khun's inability to explain progress during the revolution in the light of Bhaskar's views.

Why ‘democracy,’ as a philosophical concept, thrives in some societies and not in others, and it has different shapes in different societies? Why, in some societies, ‘democracy’ is ‘from bottom-up,’ and ‘township-based,’ but it is ‘top-down,’ and ‘centralist’ in some other societies? What are the merits and advantages of ‘township democracies’ and disadvantages of ‘centralist democracies?’ This paper tries to answer to these questions by a comparative analysis of these two democracies according to Tocqueville’s political philosophy. Having shown the causes of these two different kinds of democracy, it analyzes their consequences, advantages, and disadvantages and shows that democracy is more a cultural concept as a way of life than a political concept as a way of governing and without ‘cultural democracy’ and ‘democratic culture and mores,’ ‘political democracy’ will itself become a new kind of ‘tyranny’ and ‘centralist democracy’ that neglects the towns and only cares about the capital is incompatible with the ‘philosophical spirit of dempcracy.’

The effect of values on science has created the fear for some philosophers of science that the main mission of science, namely objectivity, will be undermined. The traditional conception of objectivity, which depends on metaphysical objectivity, has been the correspondence of the mental image with external and independent reality; but with the difficulty of achieving it, as well as the diversity of modern epistemological foundations, newer interpretations of it have been proposed that also affect the value-ladennessof science. Linking objectivity with the element of trust or epistemological perfection or purity of unscientific values and personal tendencies are examples of these approaches. Objectivity means the conformity of science with external reality and once the basis is clarified as to whether such a thing is possible or not, the method of achieving this ideal and its ills are discussed. This objectivity includes two stages of process and outcome, and scientific results will be objective if the process of science is objective and free of non-objective factors and tools.

The relationship between the free will and the philosophical rule of "causal determinism" is one of the issues that have been the subject of controversy among Islamic thinkers, theologians, and philosophers. Well-known Islamic scholars do not consider causal determinism in conflict with this rational and necessary law, but some theologians, including Al-Ghazâlî have considered it contrary to the free will. Therefore, the focus of this research is to study and research the works of the prominent thinker of the Islamic world and the great Ash'arite (/æʃəˈriː/; Arabic: اشعریه‎ al-ʾAšʿarīyah or ٱلاشاعره al-ʾAšāʿirah) theologian (Al-Ghazâlî) to study and evaluate his theological thought about the relation of the free will and causal determinism. In this article, after explaining the concepts of the free will, causal determinism and will, the basic motives for denying causality in Ghazali's intellectual system have been examined. In general, it turns out that Ash'arite thought has overshadowed all of Al-Ghazâlî's theories and has led to his various orientations in all matters, including the free will. According to Al-Ghazâlî, believing in the rule of causal necessity requires the limitation of divine power and the deprivation of human free will and the free agent and the compulsion of God in his actions. Therefore, in answer to the main question of the research, that is, from the point of view of Al-Ghazâlî, is it possible to combine the belief in the causal determinism and the free will the free agent or not? It can be said that in Al-Ghazâlî's thought, human free will cannot be combined with causal necessity or determinsm.

This research seeks to explain the most important anthropological dimensions of prayer according to Vincent Brommer through analytical and citation methods. The independent man is one of the main components of prayer according to Brommer. Although he has not distinguished the anthropological topics of prayer from other topics, according to his presuppositions and epistemological foundations, it can be said that; Faith, love, human maximum authority, freedom and individuality are the most important anthropological dimensions of prayer for Brommer. In explaining these anthropological issues, he has opened prayer influenced by existentialism and theology. According to Brommer, faith is a necessary and prerequisite for prayer and the essence of man's relationship with God. With a moderate approach to the issue of faith, he considers all three elements of knowledge, action and love to be effective in the truth of faith. In his view, the goal of faith and prayer is love of God. In the light of his belief in man's maximum free will and individuality, Brommer interprets prayer as man's interpersonal relationship with God.

To achieve the common origin of "I" and nature, Schelling takes a new approach to the philosophy of nature; demonstrating the falsity of dualism between "I" and nature and showing how nature cannot be reduced to a mechanistic series of causes and effects. By integrating Leibniz's principle of inner purposiveness, Spinoza's monism, and the Kantian concept of teleology, he interprets an organic idea of nature as a totality and founds "I" on the ground of this organic nature. Schelling turns to Leibniz's vitalistic philosophy for presents a self-organizing scheme of nature, and he uses the intensive doctrine of substance to overcome the dualism of modern philosophy. In this view, the parts are to be deduced, in a purely analytic way from the whole, and each unit must include an infinite plurality, so the difference between subject and object is in degree, not in type; Nature is all alive, and no real object is entirely inorganic but is only in a lower degree of organic. In Schilling's point of view, the highest degree of organization of the infinite is the creativity of the artist, who is the culmination of all the organic forces of nature. The main question of this essay is about the fundamental role of Schelling's organic interpretation in his aesthetic essence. in this regard, while the impact of Leibniz's vitalistic approach is analyzed, the reinforcement of the activity of "I" in Schilling's system of thought is examined.

“Simple reality” rule states the relation of its true instance, that is, God to the universe. The similarity of this relationship in transcendent wisdom and mysticism, and Mulla Sadra's stipulation of mystics' intuitive perception of the content of this rule, makes thought seek its counterparts in mysticism. The closest mystical interpretation to the meaning of the above-mentioned rule is the statement of Ibn Arabi that "The essence of God is oneness in his essence, everything in the names", as far as it can be considered as a counterpart in the mysticism of the “simple reality” rule. The meaning of this phrase is the negation of plurality by the inherent oneness of God and the justification of plurality by the effusion of the universe from divine names. This mystical belief, results such as; The attribution of all positive and negative rulings to God, unity at the same time as multiplicity at the same time as unity, and simultaneous correctness of similitude and purification. An analytical study of these cases shows that the positive content of the “simple reality” rule in in knowing God "all things" is the mystical expression that the totality of the existence of God with the existence of others does not stand, in the sense that the existence of the God as appearance is different from the universe as his manifestations.

Perhaps one of the most pivotal ideas of Kant which connects all of the periods of his continuous intellectual work is the idea of the nature as the whole. According to Kant the nature as the whole is equivalent to totality and universality. This is the rule of the fundamental idea: the particulars finally must be under the general in order to be explicable. But it is interesting to note that this general rule which remains unchanged in Kant’s three periods of intellectual work has a special meaning in each period. So we seek to answer the question of how Kant begins with the nature as the objective and then reaches the nature as the ideal of the pure reason and consider it as the necessary totality for the power of judgment and from there reaches the nature as something that has legal requirements. But such a transformation into the legal and historical nature is possible only if we pay attention to the power of reflective judgments which are contained of aesthetic and teleological judgments. Because it is the power of reflective judgment that provides Kant with the necessary tools to view the nature as a totality whose purpose is the realization of rights. In this sense the nature is something that offers hope to the human race.

This paper aims to discover the key components of quantum theory in learning through hermeneutic research method. Quantum theory is exactly against the theory of simplicity. While the theory of simplicity has been influenced by modernity and the insights from Descartes and Newton who believe that phenomena can be reduced to their simplest form, quantum theory emphasizes holism and holds that all the components of being are dynamic and interconnected. Cartesian reductionism led to the linear causality between phenomena, which believed that phenomena were predictable and controllable, and therefore certain, but the Quantum perspective instead focused on the complexity and entanglement of relationships rather than on linearity and simplicity. Discussions on Quantum learning were started by quantum theory. Emphasizing on holism, entanglement, and the complex interactive relationship between phenomena, they focused on both objective and extrinsic capacities as well as subjective and intrinsic capacities. This perspective of Quantum thinking leads to cooperative learning, dynamic classrooms, learning through conscious and subconscious memory, data processing and conceptualization, input data processing cycles, visual learning, auditory and motor- sensory learning, subjective learning and consideration of learning context, which all consider holism and entanglement in learning.

The subject of this article is the analysis of the concept of freedom as one of the fundamental issues of political thought in Kant’s philosophy. Given Isaiah Berlin’s typology of the negative and positive conceptions of freedom in the history of philosophy, this article examines Kant’s position on freedom in the form of the above two conceptions. In Kant’s view, moral action is a practice with a purely moral motive and respect for the moral law, without the accompaniment of human desires. There is a kind of opposition between moral inclinations and motivation in Kant’s moral theory. In Kant’s view, freedom means the abandonment of desires and the fulfillment of moral duty. In his view, inner tendencies act as internal barriers to moral action and freedom, and must be eliminated or at least controlled. The concept of freedom has a central place in Kant’s moral theory, as freedom is the product of obedience to moral duties, and this positive concept, contrary to Berlin’s claim, does not lead to tyranny.

The writings of Pseudo-Dionysius are a mixture of Christian thought, Late Greek philosophy and mainly neo-Platonic philosophy, which are easily integrated with religion because of his transcendence. Dionysius's view of beauty is described in Asma Elahi. It seems that his views on beauty also exist in the wisdom of illumination, so a comparison can be made between the views of Dionysius and Sheikh Ishraq on beauty. Suhrawardi discusses beauty with themes such as Noor Al-Anvar, more insight, the high ability of mystics to understand beauty, and the light that causes beauty, beauty and perfection and Dionysius refers to the trinity, infinity, connection with God, the source of beauty and etc. in his proposed criteria and also he tells about the final end of his views in the areas of origin and influence, as well as the manifestation of beauty in objects. In this study, by examining the views of Dionysius and Sheikh Ishraq, it shows the similarities between these two views.

How ethics and society relate to each other has always been one of the most important questions for social thinkers and philosophers. At the beginning of the so-called Enlightenment, Teleological ethics, the work of ancient Greek philosophers, including Aristotle, was marginalized, and self-founded reason became the center of all social judgment. In response to such a situation, the communitarianism criticized the devaluation of philosophy in the modern age, proposing a mechanism for creating a moral structure that could be achieved by resorting to the Aristotelian tradition. McIntyre, as one of the most important thinkers in the communitarian movement, emphasizes the Aristotelian moral tradition and believes that a person apart from tradition, history and society cannot be defined as wise and should only provide the necessary basis for society's goodness through spreading "The moral technicality of living". Accordingly, the question under consideration of this study is based on what is the relationship between society and ethics in the philosophical tradition of Western thought from the point of view of communitarianism and also how McIntyre's answer is presented. By criticizing modern thought, McIntyre seems to have addressed the issue of reason and moral values ​​in society from the perspective of Western philosophical approaches and the mechanism of creating a moral structure with the idea of ​​"choosing the best criteria" and "the moral technicality of living". Using a descriptive-normative approach, this study tries to address McIntyre's suggestions for building a moral society within Western culture, taking into account the criticisms made by communitarianisms regarding the rupture of the relationship between morality and society.

For Zizek, considering Hegel's philosophy as the culmination of absolute systematization and idealism which ultimately dissolves the diversity of reality into absolute idea and knowledge, is a cursory judgment of his philosophy. Zizek argues it is possible to remove the stains of absolutistic perception from Hegel's thought by using Lacan. Accordingly, Zizek’s reading of Hegel's subject, unlike his predecessor and contemporary thinkers, takes place in the space of Lacanian concepts and the context of the real. In this respect, the Hegelian subject is not a pre-predicative thing and it doesn’t have a priori coherence, but it is always bounded by the conditions of the external occurrence. The existence of the subject is the product of an abstract totalitarian negation that challenges the authoritarian and totalitarian structure of the substantial order. Lacan's excuse for rereading Hegel is not because Zizek assumes Hegel is trapped in a kind of semantic and structural self-referential subjugation. Rather, he always identifies a kind of surplus in Hegel's philosophy of spirit which can only be analyzed by using Lacanian psychoanalytic concepts. Zizek takes Hegel's dialectic from the level of the logic of the signifier, in which desire is recognized through the other and the subject is digested as the subject of a sign in the symbolic order, to the level of Lacan's logic in which there is no big and perfect other. It is always incomplete, barred, and not-all structured around a fundamental lack. According to Zizek, there is the real in the subject which is not impossible, and a desire does not fit in the framework of the production of fantasy, signifier and big other, and this is exactly the point where the subject is formed.

 From the time human beings are born, they are forever confronted with the phenomena of pleasure and happiness. These two concepts are very close but there are major differences and that is that pleasure is also used in momentary cases, and happiness is used only for lasting or relatively lasting pleasures. Ibn Sina and Mulla Sadra completely separated these two concepts and provided separate definitions for them. There is a deep relationship between pleasure and happiness. Psychology has a direct effect on pleasure and happiness. According to the perceptual powers of the soul, it considers different levels for pleasure and happiness, among which it considers intellectual pleasure and intellectual or spiritual happiness in terms of evidence, proof, and quantity and quality of superior than other pleasures and happiness. And among the powers of the soul, it is the only intellectual power that has not been destroyed by death, and in the world of the hereafter, ultimate happiness and pleasure will be determined by it. The method used in this article is descriptive and analytical and the method of collecting materials is library.

In this article, we try to show that Maurice Merleau-Ponty, as the patron saint of the body, offers a phenomenological analysis of the body that is neither psychological nor rational, but existential in nature. Influenced by Heidegger's philosophy, Merleau-Ponty presents an existential analysis of man and his corporeality as the corporeal subject relates to the world. In this article, focusing on concepts such as location, body schema, flesh, absent body, and body perspective, we show that Merleau-Ponty's phenomenological analysis of these existential concepts has important role in understanding of the lived-body. Merleau-Ponty, by criticizing Descartes' body and abandoning his duality of soul and body, turns to the existential union of the two in the form of a bodily subject, showing that human existence can be understood through this bodily. He contrasts this analysis with philosophical analyzes, including Cartesian philosophy, in which he believes that sensory perception and the body as the foundation of human consciousness play an important role in his pre-reflective understanding of himself and the world.

The main purpose of this research is to explore the thoughts of British philosopher Roger Scruton in the scope of aesthetics. Scruton was particularly influenced by Kant's project of critique of rational faculties, and Wittgenstein's insights into the realm of language and meaning. For this purpose, the steps he has taken in the development of analytic aesthetics (in two parts of judgment of beauty and beauty areas) have been extracted. This study was conducted using first-order library resources using conceptual analysis method. According to Scruton, aesthetics is the core of philosophy and is more important today than other branches of philosophy, even if it is dependent on other branches because of this central discipline. The most important results of this study are the reconstruction and application of two concepts of Disinterested interest and Means-End dualism, The elementary platitudes in aesthetics (pleasure, rank, attention, reason / judgment, description of object and first-hand judgments of beauty), the relationship between sacred, beauty and desires in human beauty, distinction of understanding and explanation in natural beauty, practical reason in everyday beauty and differentiation of fantasy-imagination and pattern of belonging or fitting in artistic beauty.

Metaphysics of Gender is a branch of Feminist Philosophy in which the metaphysical issues about "Gender" are discussed. Charlotte Witt is a feminist philosopher, who analyzes gender from a particular point of view. Witt names her theory "Uni-Essentialism" which is an essentialist theory of gender, while differing deeply from customary essentialist theories. She avoids the current framework of debate between Realists and Nominalists, because her main question is about the role of gender in one's identity. She says that there are always some conflicts between norms of various social roles one occupies, and for this reason we all need a unifying normative principle. According to Witt, gender is that normative principle, which unifies and organizes all other roles. So, gender is essential for everyone, in an Aristotalian sense. In this paper the Uni-Essentialism thesis of Witt is analyzed and its weaknesses are discussed. Finally we will suggest some points for improvement and modification of the theory.

Modernism is a mental and intellectual approach by modern human; a mind that became a new change facing life crisis and manifested the various aspects of life using art medium. Modern period started a fundamental change; therefore, the artist converted the art meaning by its stream of consciousness. The author, poet and painter of the modern period embodied the self-concept of surrounding issues using an innovative thought. Achieving differences made the dynamic mind of the modern artist to research in order to create a world free of any representation after its subjective powers. On the other hand, art pundits appeared with new attitudes and express their iconoclastic opinions on representation avoidance concepts in modern art. Gilles Deleuze and Nelson Goodman are 20th century philosophers, who cohered a special paradigm on this period by presenting useful concept. The writer believes that recognition and perception of modern artistic works get a new concept considering opinions of these two great theoretician. Modern literary and visual works, abandoning the former representation tradition, changed to a form of anti-representational and modeling based on the concepts submitted by the mentioned philosophers provided a range of new thoughts. Focusing on painting and literature as two artistic eras, this research tries to renovate a different aspect of representation, by connecting them together. What is to be questioned is, on what concepts was the representation concept in the worldview of artists and theoretician in the modern period based and how it was affected?

The hole argument has become one of the main issues in the philosophy of space-time after the article by Earman and Norton (1987), according to which a certain version of substantivalism (manifold substantivalism) cannot be defended because it brings about to a radical indeterminism. In this article, we try to show that, first, the naming of manifold substantivalism is not appropriate since as some philosophers have said, manifold points cannot be considered to have an independent identity. Second, with a commitment to ontic structural realism, it is possible to offer a proper understanding of manifold substantivalism, which according to the hole argument, does not lead to the radical indeterminism. As a result, the hole argument does not arise, simply. Thus, the last point is that the fact that structural realism is able to solve the problem of the hole argument can itself be seen as considerable evidence in favor of this philosophical position, and thus, the degree of its confirmation goes up.

Surrealists’ paintings are covered in puzzle-like images informed by a juxtaposition of fantasy and reality. They sought to combine dream and reality to unleash the untold hidden in their subconscious through creation of novel effects. The work of art chosen for review in this study is Magritte's The Human Condition (La condition humaine) painting. René Magritte has created two paintings with this same title,‌ the image of both of which are included in the article. The one addressed in this study is the painting depicting a room and the landscape visible through a window. In the first glance,‌ we see a landscape outside the window in the room. Through further examination,‌ however,‌ we realize that a part of the landscape is in fact a painting on canvas on a tripod. Which makes one wonder,‌ what was Magritte's purpose in creating this painting? Was he trying to create a puzzle? Was he aiming to mock the mind and perception of the spectator? Or is this something beyond a mind game? Therefore,‌ this study attempted to critically examine and conduct a phenomenological assessment of this painting. Through a deeper analysis and epoché on this painting,‌ it can be seen that it is more of a picture in picture puzzle than a depiction. Similar to other prominent artists,‌ René Magritte tried to create a universe to point us in the direction of a hidden truth behind the images; a truth that is understandable in the life of today's human beings.