publish date : 9/24/2016 12:00:00 AM
id : 719
Sayyid Murtada and the Ethics of Belief

Sayyid Murtada and the Ethics of Belief

"The Ethics of Belief", brought to the contemporary philosophical literature by William Clifford, is a term used to refer to adherence to the practical and theoretical requirements in thinking along with their moral and epistemological significance. Since the experts usually consider a number of components in their thought systems, the ethics of belief refers to the intellectual and behavioral standards of the thinkers in their thoughtful deliberations. In his works, Sayyid Murtada, the prominent Shiite thinker and rationalist theologian, refers to many components in the domain of the cognition, belief and criticism of thought; and besides applying them in his arguments, he also judges about them. He is considered a task-oriented and rationalist scholar, who tends to provide symmetrical views for the ideas of the other scholars. He argues and criticizes the ideas of others as a violation of ethics of belief, whenever their thoughts are derived from baseless and unjustifiable worldly desires and aspiration. He insists so firmly on this rational position that he is considered as a Mu'tazila. One of the main principles of the ethics of belief is whether the belief is voluntary or involuntary. Sayyid Murtada believes in the significance of types of ethics and refers to a number of components concerning the responsibility of the man for his beliefs. This article identifies the principles of this argument in Sayyid Murtada’s view and explores the components of the ethics of belief in his viewpoint. The prominence of argument in the belief discussions, avoidance from motivated tendencies in the criticism of ideas, respect for opposing views, keeping away from prejudice, bigotry, and imitation are among the mentioned components.

Keywords: Sayyid Murtada, ethics of belief, knowledge, beliefs, rationalism


* Seminary school student, Kharij level of fiqh and osul, Seminary school of Qom; PhD in theology (the philosophy of religion and modern theological issues), Qom University