ʿAllama Jaʿfari’s Perspective on Rational and Scientific Explanation of Practice and Facing the Challenges of Causal Theory

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 PhD in Islamic Philosophy & Theology, Allameh Tabataba'i University

2 Full professor at Allameh Tabataba'i University

Abstract

How explaining practice which is the point of linking this new branch of philosophy with the philosophy of the humanities is one of the main questions of contemporary philosophy of practice. Some philosophers have explained this issue scientifically and based on the causal relation of reason to action (with practice) and others have attempted to rationalize it and interpret it differently from scientific explanation. ʿAllama Jaʿfari while analyzing human action and emphasizing the element of free will has tried to show that the voluntary action can be explained despite the dominance of the factor over doing and quitting. ʿAllama while distinguishing between rational explanation and scientific explanation, although accepted causal explanation in the field of scientific research, but does not limit it in explanation by reason; rather, by emphasizing the role of free will and human freedom, considering of the four factors of intrinsic (intrinsically) variable, intrinsically fixed, extrinsically variable and extrinsically fixed in scientific explanation. ʿAllama also, divides explanation into two stages before and after operation and introduces a priori explanation method as inductive and based on probability calculus and introduces posteriori explanation method as syllogistic. The present study, in addition to extract and adjust ʿAllama Jaʿfari’s theory in explaining action, explains three important challenges of normativeness (the quality or state of being normative), logical relationship and deviation in the chain of action that are discussed in causal theories and shows that these problems that based on analysis of human action and freedom of the will can be answered.

Keywords


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