A Comparative Evaluation of Seyyed Hossein Nasr's Traditionalism on the Question of Science in Light of Thomas Kuhn and Ernst Cassirer

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Assistant Professor, Science and Technology Research Institute, Institute of Cultural and Social Studies, Tehran,, Iran.

Abstract

Seyyed Hossein Nasr sees a connection between the empirical base of science and Western culture, and in this respect sees secular scientific culture as heterogeneous, and in conflict, with religious culture. However, referring to the "history of Islamic science and civilization" and the "secular rotation of science in the West", he believes that there is a possibility of re-rotations. The axis of this rotation, on which "the science depends", is in fact the empirical-theoretical material that can be subjected to Islamic form. In this article, we try to examine in more detail the possibility of combining indigenous values and traditions with the empirical material of science. By comparatively examining the concept of direction and worldview, we try to find out what is wrong with the "possibility of changing the direction" of science or the "worldview" of science by paying attention to the views of two other thinkers, Thomas Kuhn and Ernest Cassirer.

Graphical Abstract

A Comparative Evaluation of Seyyed Hossein Nasr's Traditionalism on the Question of Science in Light of Thomas Kuhn and Ernst Cassirer

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References

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Journal of Philosophical Investigations
Volume 20, Issue 55 - Serial Number 55
Articles
Issue 55, Summer 2026
July 2026
Pages 481-500

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