A Comparative Analysis of Allameh Tabatabaʾi’s Theory of Iʿtibari Perceptions and Rorty's Pragmatism

Rahim Nasirian, Iman

doi:10.48308/jipt.2024.234208.1496

A Comparative Analysis of Allameh Tabatabaʾi’s Theory of Iʿtibari Perceptions and Rorty's Pragmatism

Document Type : Scientific-research

Author

Iman Rahim Nasirian

PhD in Philosophy from the Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin, Iran.

10.48308/jipt.2024.234208.1496

Abstract

Criticizing and rejecting the Western metaphysical tradition, which searches for an absolute notion of Truth, Rorty describes the truth of beliefs as relative and dependent on the context of their origin. On the other hand, Allameh Tabatabaʾi, with a fundamentally metaphysical background, presents an innovative theory within the tradition of Islamic philosophy with similar consequences. This theory considers some valid perceptions in the sphere of action, namely, ‘Iʿtibārī perceptions,’ which, he specifies, play a central role in the historical evolution of human life. Unlike true perceptions, Iʿtibārī perceptions are relative and constantly evolving depending on environmental and social conditions. In this paper, with a comparative-analytical approach, we will show that Tabatabaʾi’s theory of Iʿtibārī perceptions has a significant affinity with Rorty’s view on relative truths. Although Rorty, unlike Tabatabaʾi, does not leave room for the absolute notion of Truth, we will investigate this difference to explore the possibility of congruence and compatibility between the thoughts of these two philosophers.

Keywords

References

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