Active Objectivism: Analyzing Tabatabai’s View on the Meaningful Life

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Phd student of the Comparative Philosophy, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran

2 professor of Islamic philosophy and theology, Imam Sadiq University, Tehran, Iran.

3 Professor at department of ethics, University of Qom, Qom, Iran.

Abstract

Tabatabai’s theory about the meaning of life can be referred to as active objectivism, where a man plays an important role in achieving the meaningful life, rather than merely discovering the divine view about his existence. If the man chooses the divine purpose from a “real life” perspective as his meaning of life, God’s purpose and man’s purpose will converge in order to shape a meaningful life and the ultimate achievement of Pure Life (al-ḥayat al-ṭayyibah). However, if he chooses the unreal counterpart, he will be trapped in an unreal life which is referred to as the “pseudo-meaningful life.” It is necessary that human beings discover the divine purpose with the help of conceptual intellect (al-‘aql al-nazari), define the essentials of achieving the purpose with his practical intellect (al-‘aql al-‘amali) and ultimately, choose the essentials with his own free will. To achieving compliance of a man’s purpose with the divine goal requires faith and good deeds.



Keywords

References

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