فصلنامه روش شناسی علوم انسانی
پیاپی 24-25 (پاییز و زمستان 1379)

This article reconstructs the most significant proofs set forth by the Edinburgh school as regards relativism and then makes some critical remarks on them. This is why this school of thought has proposed the theory of natural rationality which considers all epistemological beliefs or assertions as naturally rational. If this theory proves to be successful in its claims, then our secondary explanation of how and why epistemological beliefs or assertions are accepted or rejected needs no rational or irrational grounds, for, according to this theory, all beliefs and theries are rational in nature. Through this speculation, the Edinburgh school mainly aims to make epistemologically identical all epistemological claims in respect of their rationality. Furthermore, the application of the concept of social interests in the theory of this school of thought on "theory of active social use of nature" has been studied and criticized. 

In this article, the writer tries to cast light on reformed epistemology and its inter pretation of rationality which some figures of importance who supported Reformation put forward. He concludes his discussion by criticising the view that reformed epistemology experiences, to a lesser or greater degree, some sort of ralativism and fideism. From among the chief approaches to elucidating the relationship between reason and religion is the view known as "radical rationalism". This view manifests itself in a natural theology and is centered around reason. Natural theology presupposes that the rationality of beliefs based on dirine revelation will provide their condition of acceptability. The interpretation of rationality, which has always been given special attention by natural theologists' is referred to by the label "foundationalism" or "classical foundationalism" according to which rational statements or beliefs are either foundational or derived from foundational statements. In this interpretation, rationality and truthfulness run parallel to each other. In contrast with the classical foundationalism, reformed epistemology presents another interpretation of rationality.

Throughout his life, Wittgenstein is known to have developed two philosophical theories, each of which has its own innovations. These two theories have a common denominator in the sense that they both deal with the philophical view of language. This article presents a relatively comprehensive account of these two sorts of philosophy in an attempt to trace   the principle trends in Wittgenstein's thought and the main questions in which he was interested. In his early philosophy, Wittgenstein focuses on the relationship between language and the world. He employed what is called the "picture theory of meaning" to derive conclusions about the nature of the world from his observations about the structure of the atomic sentences. Wittgenstein's later philosophy assumes that the task of philosophy is essentially to dissolve the philosophical and metaphysical puzzles which are the result of insufficient attention to the working of language and herein he introduces the idea of "language games" according to which the use of language is of significance and, in a word, the world ultimately determines which language games can be played. To sum up, Wittgenstein's philosophy seeks to mark the boundaries of language and then realize what language can express and what it can not.

One of the main debates in the realm of western political thought which, one dare say, evolved simultaneously with the rise of man's political thought and is still evolving, is a historical debate on virtue and freedom. This study seeks to trace and highlight the main characteristics of each of these two sets of political theories, virtue-centered and freedom-oriented, in the history of western political thought (from pre-Socratics to conventionalists). The main characteristics of virtue-centered political theories can be illustrated in terms of theology, morality as well as the hierarchy of vertical socio-political structure, whereas the freedom-oriented theories lay emphasis on humanism, legalism, and horizontal socio - political structure.

Historical sociology, as a comparative study of social groups, leads to the understanding of the structure of a society, its background and its composition in the past and these serve as the setting for the historical events. It also provides an insight which bridges the gap in the evidence and claims of the historians and contributes to the improvement and promotion of historians' mode of thought about the various societies in the past. It offers certain evaluations of the course of history in terms of the basic elements and impersonal forces which form a challenge to the traditional view of history. This article attempts, in a sociological manner, to investigate the role of social institutions and organizations, the relations between individual and religion, the social structure of Mecca and Medina (Yathrib), the social cohesion, and so on.

Musa¦ ibn `Oqba is one of the biographers who, along with Ibn Isha¦q, has a significant contribution to the recording of the Prophet's life style (sira) and the early battles led by him. However, his book of the accounts of the Prophet's early battles (maqa¦zi) was badly damaged with the passage of time and the reasons have not been so clear uptonow. Due to its antiquity, the book was one of the references upon which the succeeding biographers relied in writing their biographies. From the accounts related by other writers who made use of Musa¦ ibn `Oqba's book, one can develop the idea that these accounts are, in fact, the format of Musa ibn `Oqba's book. `Oqba's book of the accounts of the Prophet's early battles gained   widespread fame probably because it provides the reader with a list of the names of those who entered into an alliance with the prophet at Aqaba, a nearby pass between Mina¦ and Mecca, the emigrants to Abyssinia and the battle champions, especially the ones in the Battle of Badr. This article, points to the cultural and scholarly status of Musa¦ ibn `Oqbah, his master, his pupils, the scholars' views of the accounts he related about the early battles of Islam, his style in writing the accounts of the early battles, his resources, his accounts of the early battles of Islam as a reliable source for later biographers in compasion with the Ibn Ishaq's accounts of the early battles of Islam.

Development is a term used vastly and very frequently, and numerous books, studies, articles and reviews carry the title of development which many countries consider one of their main objectives. These countries expect that through development they can satisfy many of their needs Now, let's see what is meant by development. In our country' the term "development" has been flexibly used so that its definition varies from one person to another and from one group to another. However, it is not an easy thing to reach a final decision about the question "What is development?" For, on the one hand, if we do not exactly define the term development, ideas may be exchanged in a misty and dim atmosphere in which no external disagreement can indicate real disagreement and no external agreement can reveal real agreement. On the other hand, the clear and precise understanding of development and all the available literature on development entirely revolves round determining the meaning and concept of development.     In this article, the writer attempts, though in a preliminary manner, to show the rules of scientific definition and uncover the unscientific definitions.

The present text is an edited version of the lecture which Dr. Mas`u¦d Derakhsha¦n, an eminent professor and scholar at London University, delivered at the Research Institute of Hawzeh and University. The issues which the article deals with may be divided into two main parts: The first part which reviews the current condition of oil in the world market, refers to three structural inequilibriums: The first is the disproportion in geographical distribution of oil reserves and in the consumption of oil in the world; the second, is the extreme fluctuations in oil prices; and the third is the risky process in patterns of investment in oil stocks. These inequilibriums come one after another. The lecturer concludes that the world oil market suffers from a structural inequilibrium, which does bring about problems to big oil companies. He maintains that there is only one key to the solution of this problem and that is the effective role which the OPEC plays in thwarting the plans of the big international oil companies which try to turn the crisis in the world market to their advantage. In the second part, Dr. Derakhsha¦n seeks to confirm the above-cited view offering some arguments and evidence. In answering the question "Can the west easily control OPEC?"' the lecturer points to the forms of policy-making institutions in the oil world market, and compares the possibilities which the western states and international oil companies possess with those of the OPEC, concluding the discussion with a positive answer to the above question.

The process of preservation of the environment and attainment of sustainable development has attracted many people's attention. If such a development takes into account the environmental issues, then it will be able to satisfy the new generation without bringing any harm to the future generation's potentialities. The best and the most appropriate way to achieve this aim and ensure its continuity demands a proper cultural background, environmental ethics and high moral commitment which have their roots in culture, world-view and the creeds of a society, and these have to be properly discovered, understood and put to practice. The study of long-term development programmes in our country indicates that, although there have been positive attitudes for preserving the environment and considerable efforts have been made in this regard, all these seem to be trivial before the amount of destruction and the pollution of the environment due to the development activities which know nothing of the required cultural conditions. Having taken into consideration the present condition of the environment in Iran, this study evaluates the process of environmental care in the long-term development programmes in our country.