JOURNAL OF CRITICAL LITERATURE AND HUMANITIES
Year:2022 | Volume:22 | Issue:1|Papers Count:19

The aim of Thomas Kuhn in writing “, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions”,was to prepare an analysis in the field of the philosophical history of science and to explain the changes and continuity of scientific institutions. He studied physics at Harvard University but he was more interested in philosophy of science history. Kuhn’, s mind was deeply impressed by Alexandre Koyre´, , Max Planck, and James Conant, also his interest in hermeneutics was motivated by Ludwig Wittgenstein and Stanley Cavell. This book which was really innovative in its own time (1969s) brought about some important concepts that most frequented ones would be “, paradigm”,and “, scientific community”, . For Kuhn, the relations between these two concepts had an important role in the development of the sociology of science. Perhaps it could be said that the same as Kuhn was influenced by his predecessors, his posterities were impressed by Kuhn in their views in the field of sociology of science.

The book "The Decline of Patriarchy, The Collapse of the Family, or the Advent of the Civil Family" explores two possibilities in the family situation in Iran, which, according to the author, can exist simultaneously. With a critical approach, he has tried to evaluate policies and plans in the family and to find alternatives to the pathology of diagnosis and strategies. This article reviews the critical review of this book. The study of the structure, form, content, and method of research in this book showed that although the subject of the book is a very interesting, new topic and very attractive, there is a lot of research that could be the subject of future research and research dissertations. But this book has fundamental defects in the structure so it seems that while the book's contents are not well-integrated, the main contents are in the first part of the book, and the following sections repeat the first chapter. The content also has conceptual and theoretical contradictions, and the author's allegations do not have reason to believe persuasive arguments and evidence. The methodology also has ambiguities which, despite the title and good subject of the book, are not proposed to the students in the present form.

The relationship between individual and culture as the main subject in psychological anthropology had been engaged anthropologists from the early days of the discipline. “, Culture and Identity: The History, Theory, and Practice of Psychological Anthropology”,(second edition, 2007) by Charles Lindholm is one of the best and most comprehensive resources in this field. The book is organized into five sections, with thirteen chapters. Lindholm began the book by exploring of self and individual in the culture and thought of the West, then turn to anthropology to show its contribution through ethnographic research. Some classic subjects of psychology such as self, thinking, emotions, and mental disorders are discussed by reference to anthropological legacy. Culture and Identity has many strengths including a good and concise review of philosophical approaches, extensive use of data of anthropological fieldworks, grounding the discussions of psychological anthropology in the broader contexts of some events in the scientific community, comprehensiveness of bibliography, and combining theory with experimental examples.

Identity, or the examination of who and what man is, has developed as a type of historical awareness and serves a variety of individual and societal functions. Due to the complexity of the identification process and the vastness of layers and aspects of identity, the growth of globalization, the establishment of modern and postmodern educational institutions and frameworks to describe its principles, elements, and functions, and the implications of recent political, social, and economic events, the subject of identity has become a critical and fundamental concern. In Iran also, identity has emerged as a critical social, political, and scientific issue. The purpose of this article is to perform a critical examination of the book "Iranian Identity: From Antiquity to the End of Pahlavi" emphasizing both its strengths and weaknesses. The study's findings signify that the book has become a widely cited source in the Iranian scientific-research community as a result of its theoretical principles and research methodology,however, the book's lack of operational definitions for key concepts, emphasis on Iranian identity discussion while ignoring other identity discussions, and inconsistencies in the theoretical and methodological framework, reliance on the periods of political history, and a neglect of the challenges resulting from the confrontation between Iranian and national identities, all contribute to the book's shortcomings.

Different narratives have been offered so far of the nature of science and scientific activity. Roy Bhaskar as one of the leading critical realists seeks to set the ground for a Copernican Revolution in the philosophy of science which seems to have been handled well by him. To this end, he proceeds to highlight the ontological debates and at the same time pays attention to the social nature of science. In “, A Realist Theory of Science”, , which contains original and powerful arguments in the philosophy of science, not only does he raise criticisms against some philosophical schools and explains his own theory of science, rather he does also broach significant categories in the philosophy of science. His remarks with their philosophical basis can inspire the scholar who studies Bhaskar’, s philosophy. Among the most important ones of these categories, one can refer to the mutuality of ontological realism and epistemological relativism as well as his criticism of Tarsky’, s theory of truth. This essay aims at reviewing Bhaskar’, s key work in the philosophy of natural sciences and identification of its points of weakness and strength using a descriptive-analytic method. This is undertaken through a detailed review of the whole book in view of its formal, qualitative, and content dimensions. The essay is concluded by a number of practical suggestions.

Population aging will be the inevitable demographic destiny of contemporary societies. Paying less attention to this phenomenon can make its consequences far more complex and difficult. One of the main ways to gain understanding and management of this phenomenon is by writing and translating scientific texts in this field. This paper aims to review and evaluate the book entitled “, Population Aging and the Generational Economy: A Global Perspective”, . This work is one of the few books in the field of population aging that has been published in Persian. It is reviewed from formal, structural, and content perspectives. The review revealed that despite formal, structural, and content shortcomings, the book is of suitable and desirable quality. Considering the changes in the age structure of the population of Iran, the Persian translation of this book cannot only be a good source for demography students, but also it can be used by demographers, economists, and population policymakers. It is suggested that in later editions, in addition to revising the text in terms of typographical and grammatical errors, the rationale for the selection of only nine chapters of the original text for the translation is explained by the translators in a brief introductory part.

The book "Philosophy of Social Sciences" by Michael Root mainly supports a perfectionist approach to the social sciences. In the sense that he believes that social scientists should try to present a conception of the good that is common among research actors. Feminist approaches to the social sciences are examples of this approach. The book also explains the doctrine of neutrality in various areas of social research, which Root believes is the result of the dominance of a liberal approach, and is then rejected. Emphasis on perfectionism in social research and attention to various areas of social sciences is one of the highlights of the book. Failure to provide an explanation of the meaning of the philosophy of social sciences, disregard for developments in contemporary liberalism, in particular, the development of a perfectionist approach to the theory of liberalism and the emphasis on the appropriateness of the idea of neutrality for the state are among the main shortcomings of the book. The existence of a state with valuable moral neutrality challenges the results of perfectionist social research. The issue of objectivity and relativity also needed to be considered, especially for a book that defends the perfectionist approach to the social sciences.

The study of the concept of Iran and national identity in relation to the issue of the ethnic and linguistic diversity of Iranian society is the main subject of the book “, Iran in five narratives”, . In the opinion of the author, our understanding of a phenomenon called Iran is a theoretical and philosophical structure, not a fixed and permanent concept. Therefore, existing understandings of national identity and Iranianness can be criticized. By referring to the ethnic-linguistic and geographical diversity of Iranian society, the author seeks to provide a pluralistic reading of the concept of Iran and national identity. Criticizing the reductionist nationalist discourse, he considers Iranianness and national identity as a category beyond the single element of being Aryan and Persian. he believes that all Iranian ethnic groups and languages such as Turkish, Arabic, Kurdish, Baluchi, and Turkmen should be considered Iranian and based on that, the concept of Iran and national dignity should be redefined. Based on such a view, the author reviews and critiques the "narratives" of Shari’, ati, Motahhari, Al-Ahmad, Zarrinkoob and Maskoob about the concept of Iran, national identity and the issue of linguistic diversity. In the present study, based on the method of qualitative content analysis, the narrations of the mentioned thinkers about Iran and national identity have been presented based on the author's reading and then the author's views on the concept of Iran and national identity have been studied. In the final discussion, the shortcomings of the book of “, Iran in Five Narratives”,are stated.

In this article, we will critically review the book "Fundamentals and Principles of Islamic Sociology" written by Dr. Farid Younes and translated by Gholamreza Jamshidiha and Ganjababi. In order to accelerate the process aimed at achieving the desired model of "Islamic sociology", it is necessary to present the achievements and fundamental actions of Muslim thinkers that have been produced in this field and to conduct a continuous critical evaluation of them. The sum of these conversations should be removed. Effective steps to achieve a clear mentality towards the field of "Islamic social sciences". The research method in this article will be the qualitative method of content analysis, in that after introducing the bibliographic information, the author, translator and expressed the methodology of the present critique, in order to achieve a clear description of the book. The analysis will be achieved through analysis and interpretation of the content of the book by emphasizing the content and structural aspects of the book. An analysis that focuses on the author's historical, sociological, and religious findings. In this article, we try to help the review of the present book by combining descriptive skills and critical analysis.

In the present article, the book " Cities and Consumption" written by Mark Jayne with a Persian translation by Morteza Ghalich was critically reviewed. Among the advantages of this book, we can refer to the views, theories, empirical backgrounds, case studies about the city, and consumption. The translation and writing of the book, despite providing important information about cities and consumption categories, need some critics, including the fact that despite the second edition of the book, the literary editing of translated texts was ignored and the inaccurate translation from the original texts is considerable. To the extent that some of the translated parts are incompatible with the original text of the book. Also, the content of the book does not provide a comprehensive explanation of the relationship between cities. In other words, the book has no theoretical or methodological presuppositions and the chapters are not formulated based on the main aim of the book. Jayne failed to explain the consumer and consumption status in the relationship between the structure of the political economy and the formation of the modern city and consumer society. He only considers consumption as an independent variable that is used by the consumer as a tool in shaping the modern city and everyday life,A claim that is not followed or substantiated in most parts of the book. Also, since the book is released in 2006, the statistical information and empirical backgrounds are not up to date.

The book "Ethnicity and Ethnocentrism: Myth and Reality" is a narrative about the conflicts of ethnic groups in Iran after the First World War until the last decades of the 14th century. According to the author, ethnicity and ethnic groups are modern categories and have no history in Iran. The three factors of the centralist and authoritarian state, the utilitarianism of the elites and the international forces played a role in the emergence of these conflicts and the formation of ethnicity. The book examines ethnicity and ethnocentrism in the context of internal and external political and social relations,It also shows the constructiveness of ethnic nationalism based on abundant historical data. In line with the book's themes, the author introduces inclusive government, highlighting cultural commonalities, and de-escalation policies as appropriate strategies for dealing with Iran's multicultural situation. There are criticisms of this work that can be mentioned as follows: the book has used different approaches without combining them and lacks paradigm coherence,Like positivists, it seeks a criterion for determining the boundaries of ethnicity, but there is no such criterion,All the arguments of the book in the direction of the construction of ethnicity are also applicable to national identity, but the author is silent about this and falls into a kind of national essentialism,It downplays the role of economic policies and development plans in ethnic conflicts,Finally, it neglects the impact of modern social change and the inevitable presence of the "other" in the formation of ethnicity.

This article aims at the critical study of the book “, violence and social orders”,written by North and his colleagues. Political violence is a frequent phenomenon and has great consequences in the political life of societies. Hence, it has attracted many social and political scientists since ancient times. The rise of new forms of political violence from the beginning of the third millennium, caused its reconsideration by different thinkers. This book by North and his colleagues is considered as a pioneer and creative work regarding the issue of violence and its relationship with development from the perspective of political economy and historical-comparative approach to provide a conceptual framework for understanding and analyzing ways of control of political violence in limited access social orders and open access social orders. The main idea of the book examines the basic rationale of social orders and the explanation of the transition from natural governments to open access orders and reduction of violence through the coalition of elites or political and economic competition. In spite of various innovative and creative ideas presented in this book, its critical reading, represents some shortcomings such as reductionist understanding of the political violence, teleological and ideological understanding of the openaccess order and acceptance of modernization paradigm and uni-linearism in theThis article aims at the critical study of the book “, violence and social orders”,written by North and his colleagues. Political violence is a frequent phenomenon and has great consequences in the political life of societies. Hence, it has attracted many social and political scientists since ancient times. The rise of new forms of political violence from the beginning of the third millennium, caused its reconsideration by different thinkers. This book by North and his colleagues is considered as a pioneer and creative work regarding the issue of violence and its relationship with development from the perspective of political economy and historical-comparative approach to provide a conceptual framework for understanding and analyzing ways of control of political violence in limited access social orders and open access social orders. The main idea of the book examines the basic rationale of social orders and the explanation of the transition from natural governments to open access orders and reduction of violence through the coalition of elites or political and economic competition. In spite of various innovative and creative ideas presented in this book, its critical reading, represents some shortcomings such as reductionist understanding of the political violence, teleological and ideological understanding of the openaccess order and acceptance of modernization paradigm and uni-linearism in the transformation of societies and the neglect of the asymmetrical and hierarchical relations between developed and developing countries.

“, The East Asian Development Experience: The Miracle, The Crisis and The Future”,is written by Ha Joon Chang and is translated into Persian by Leila Sadat Fatemi Nasab. The book explains the causes of successful development in East Asian countries. These countries which were poor and backward after the Second World War, during a few decades, became newly industrializing countries. There are different views about the causes of the development of East Asian countries. Some experts believe that the major cause is their acceptance of market mechanisms and export orientation. While others emphasize the governments' role in supporting infant industries and encouraging the private sector exports. Chang shows that freemarket mechanism was not the cause of their success. Conversely, governments' conditional supporting measures alongside effective supervision on the private sector economic performance, and emphasis on exports had a major impact in the development of the East Asian countries. “, The East Asian Development Experience: The Miracle, The Crisis and The Future”,is a very useful book for Iranian researchers and policymakers in the current situation. Fatemi Nasab's translation of the book is very good but there are a few problems in translating special words that seem to be related to the lack of deep knowledge in economics.

“, Feminist Thought: A More Comprehensive Introduction”,by Rosemarie Tong and translated by Manizeh Najm-e araghi is a publication that offers us a clear and comprehensible understanding of the core feminist traditions. In this book, the author addresses seven feminist movements: liberal feminism, Marxist feminism, radical feminism, psychoanalytic feminism, socialist feminism, existentialist feminism, and postmodern feminism. This article seeks to show how informative and inspiring this book might be for the Iranian intellectual and scientific community. Tong’, s publication is an important and popular figure in the Englishspeaking world and has the necessary coherence in terms of logical order. It is well structured and the Persian translation is smooth and fluid. Taking into account that the book was first published in 1989,the translated version leaves out some important feminist approaches. It lacks the proper structure of academic books, but in the absence of translations of other prominent feminist theory books, it is a useful resource for students and researchers in the fields of social sciences, philosophy, and women's studies. We hope that the editor of the Persian version takes into account the last English edition of the book (2017) and presents it to the readers in its next Persian editions.

The present study seeks to introduce and critique Pierre Bourdieu's theory of distinction with a metatheory approach. The distinctive metatheory analysis is based on the four factors of the theoretical and social contexts of the theorist, basic assumptions, content concepts, logical relations of propositions and explanatory processes of theory, and finally a critique of theory based on the views of one of Bourdieu's key critics. The results of the transnational analysis show that Bourdieu's social world is full of unpleasant distribution of position and resources, and this has highlighted the theoretical concern of differentiation. The conflicting influences of Marxist, existentialism, structuralism, and activism have also created an interest in fusion theory in Bourdieu. In combining agency and structure, he considers the agency of individuals in a way that affects both the mind and the structure. He sees society as an interconnected set of fields (structures), capitals, and habitus. In his view, differences in habituation, capital, and position in the field lead to differences and distinctions in lifestyles. However, insufficient attention to the moral aspects of action, ignoring the role of emotions in the process of reasoning and prioritizing interests as the basis for social competition have been considered as the most important criticisms of Bourdieu's theory of distinction.

This article has been written with the aim of critical study on the book "Everyday Life of Urban Precariat (2013-2011)" written by Alireza Sadeghi. This book is considered as a collection of works written in the theoretical-methodological tradition of Bayat and according to the author, it is readable in the continuation of Bayat's book "Street Policies" which was written in 1997. The results of this critical study show that although the information and evidence presented in the book, which has been analyzed in an ethnographic manner, indicate the depth and breadth of this research, the fact is that the book is one of its original examples of "street politics". He has not stepped beyond. Also, showing the negligence and insignificance of the role of the poor in reproducing the inferiority situation and urban irregularities is a point that can be seen in the design and summary of the present book.

Since the academic works compiled with an Islamic approach in the field of social sciences are presented and introduced as a textbook in universities and scientific centers, their critiques are also vital to strengthen these works and remove ambiguities in texts and discover its capabilities and features. It will also lead to the production of social thought within the framework of Islamic thought. This article tries to critique and review the book "History of Social Thought in Islam,from the Beginning to the Contemporary Period ». Dr. Taghi Azadarmaki addresses the features and shortcomings of the book and also offers suggestions for its correction. The author, while evaluating the formal and accurate content of the work, has reached this conclusion. This work cannot meet the needs of the scientific community in the field of social thought in the framework of Islamic thought. There are also numerous editorial and content problems, the need to revise and rewrite and correct it. Referring to the formal and content shortcomings of the work does not mean ignoring the advantages and positive aspects of the work.

Karl Mannheim is a Hungarian-German sociologist and one of the leading figures in the sociology of knowledge during thirty decades of the twentieth century thirty centuries and at the same time with the rise of the National Socialist Party. He sees democracy not only as a political phenomenon but also as a prelude to the spread of democratic culture, as well as a consequence of a kind of social turmoil resulting from the displacement of classes and civic values replacing the traditional values of the bourgeois aristocracy. In this work, Mannheim tries to describe the process of transformation in sociological but abstract language. In general, it can be said that Mannheim, by focusing on the discussion of culture, has tried to show what factors hinder the realization of democracy in societies in transition and finally has offered solutions in this regard.

The purpose of this article is to review and critique one of the most important books of Max Scheller called Ressentiment. This research has been done by the descriptive-analytical method. In this book, Scheller introduces ressentiment as well as Nietzsche's view of the issue, which he, under the influence of this famous German philosopher, introduced and expanded the ressentiment concept. According to Max Scheller, the modern world and modernity, wherever it expands, creates a kind of emotional structure where he calls this emotional construction ressentiment. According to him, this feeling appears when the social actor wants to change a social situation, but is not able to do so. The results of the critique and review of this book show that this book, despite some strengths such as notes section, index of subjects, and index of persons at the end of the book provides more information to the reader about the content of the book, it has many defects in the field of form and content, unfortunately. Some of these include lack of footnotes of German and English terms, proper nouns, the lack of a glossary at the end of the book, the existence of typographical errors, use of inaccurate equivalents, and inconsistent use of equivalents.