JOURNAL OF CRITICAL LITERATURE AND HUMANITIES
Year:2020 | Volume:20 | Issue:7|Papers Count:17

Socio-cultural reading is one of the most important approaches in cultural history, which is highlighted in the book "An Introduction to the Cultural History of the Body in Iran". In this article, the methodology and content of the text begins with the question of: how the use of discourse approach in the cultural history of the body has an impact on the authors of the book and their reading of the sources and events of Iranian history and which are its strengths and weaknesses? By using a critical approach and historical analysis, the discussion can be achieved in an attempt to formulate a new history of Iran, provide a different interpretation of the understanding of history, highlight the sociological approach and cultural studies of the body, interpret the cover as cultural, political and religious mentioned the use of literary and illustrated sources with the aim of strengthening the socio-cultural history approach. However, the universal and detailed view as a result of the dominance of the holistic and theory-based approach in the text of the work is impaired and several historical data can be presented that challenge the inference of the authors of the book. On the other hand, the four divisions of the historical periods of Iran into the imperial era, the constitutional era, the modern era, and the religious era in different seasons have serious problems and do not correspond to the periods of Iranian history.

There are three types of normative ethics including duty-based ethics, result-based ethics and virtue-based ethics. A fourth type of ethics can be also considered as "Caliphate – oriented ethics", which is based on the assumption and succession between man (as Abd) and God (as Rabb). In this article, we attempt to examine the concept of "Caliphate-based ethics" by examining the mystical ethics in the tradition of theoretical mysticism. This type of ethics may be the correct interpretation of "mystical ethics"-in the tradition of theoretical mysticism attributed to Ibn al-Arabi and Caliphate-based ethics is subordinated to virtue ethics. The Caliphate's ethics should be viewed as a virtue theory that differs in the nature of virtues, the method of recognizing virtues, and how to achieve virtues with conventional approaches to virtue ethics. In this theory, virtues are the attributes of God, the method of recognizing virtues is the knowledge of the virtues, and the method of becoming virtuous is to imitate God and then become the caliph of God through mystical conduct in three stages. Purification, Polishing and Adornation. This methodology is based on mystical anthropology, which is found in the mystical works of Imam Khomeini.

Abdal-llah Belqiziz, a Moroccan philosopher in Book of Arabic and Modernity: A Study of Modernist Discourse poses the question of how encountered Arab intellectual discourses (authentic, reformist, and liberal) with modernity; Why these discourses have not succeeded in opening the way to Arab modernity? According to Belqiziz, the main problem goes back to the theoretical framework of these discourses, which contains the following problems: 1. A mechanical definition of the relationship between oneself and another; 2-Linear view of history; 3-Incomplete understanding of modernity. In contrast to Belqiziz, the discourse of critical rationalism because of its reliance on the internal dialectic between self and the other; self and the other dialectical critique; Nonlinear view of history (simultaneous intellectual history); Cultural understanding of modernity; Avoidance of absolutism; possibility of combining Western and Islamic reason as the solution to these problems. But it seems that Belqiziz's solution still has two fundamental problems: 1-The inevitability of modernity; 2-Lack of pure indigenous epistemological system and methodology for transition to progress.

The present paper introduces and criticizes the book entitled "philosophical anthropology" authored by "Hans Dierkes". In this book, the author has selected texts containing educational perspectives on the subject matter of the discussion, which have been proposed mainly without any comprehensive analysis and deep systematization. After mentioning four levels of philosophical anthropology proposed by "Dierkes" and criticizing them, this paper talks about the importance of paying attention to the new approach called "dimensional anthropology", and in addition to investigating the anthropology classification in the book structure, it has referred to the proposed quadripartite model in the human exposure to self, nature, society, and God. In the following, the similarities and differences between the anthropological perspectives are explained using analytical-critical method and it paves the way for their philosophical criticism. Accordingly, the most important finding of this research is that most the anthropological perspectives have paid attention to one or more than one dimensions of human facets and have been magnified, and there is few perspectives in which one can achieve the analysis of the relation and interaction between all human forces, indicating the importance of paying attention to the philosophical and methodological foundations of "dimensional anthropology". This book is very helpful with regard to opening scientific horizons and posing main anthropological questions, but presenting any definition of the realm and examples of philosophical anthropology depends on the explanation of the "subject" and "method" of such approach and no clear boundary can be found between the four levels of philosophical anthropology proposed by "Dierkes" without having an accurate perspective on its components.

Over the last two decades, a change has occurred in the paradigm of the development model, esp. individual and social development, and the theoretical model of dynamic human training has been attracting considerable interest since then. Indeed, humans and their needs were viewed from a different angle, and the communities set it as their goal to educate and train psychologically and socially good/OK humans. Thomas A. Harris, an American author, is one of the noted psychiatrists who has researched on this subject for several decades. He has written several books on the good status and the good human. He believes that good training bred good status. This article firstly provides a short introduction about the book and then in the second part, Transactional Analysis theory is introduced, and then the structure and content of the book is mentioned in the third part. In the rest of the paper, the criticisms and evaluation of the book are presented in two sub-sections (a) evaluation of form and (b) evaluation of content. In the final section of the paper, the conclusion on the book are presented.

Globalization is accompanied by the expansion of mass communication across the globe. Regarding the magnitude and type of the major impacts left by globalization and cosmopolitan connections on cultural developments, various theories have been formed, among which the most important ones are the theory of cultural convergence and the theory of cultural polarization. The main issue is the relationship between cultural diversity and globalization which Norris and Inglehart have tested in their book, "Cosmopolitan Communications: Cultural Diversity in a Globalized World ", through an extensive survey based on variables. According to the results of this study, globalization has had a convergent aspect only in the areas close to the center of mass communications world, while the fact is that due to the so-called firewalls, a major part of the world is not highly exposed to global mass communications. The present paper tries to review and examine the relationship between globalization and cultural diversity introduced in the collaborative research of Norris and Inglehart which is translated into Persian by Abdollah Fazeli and Sajedeh Allameh and published in a book entitled “ Globalization and Cultural Diversity” by Kavir Publishing. In addition to the review and analysis of the content of this work, its form and translation are also considered at this paper.

Liberals claim that they do not impose any restrictions on the critique of ideas and institutions because any restriction in this area means restricting freedom of expression as one of the most important aspects and instances of freedom. Accordingly, in liberal discourse, insults to divine prophets are defended as an example of freedom of expression. The central theme of the book "Is Criticism Secular? " is related to the above discussion. This book contains articles written by two Muslim authors, Talal al-Assad and Saba Mahmoud, and criticizes the liberal view of criticism and its relation to freedom of expression. This article examines and critiques these views. Both Assad and Saba Mahmoud tried to recognize and reject the "dual rational argument" that puts Christianity, secularism, rationality, tolerance, and freedom of thought and expression on one side, and Islam, fundamentalism, obedience, bigotry, and limitation of thought and expression on the other side. Assad emphasizes the violation cases that exist in the functioning and existing laws of modern societies. However, he should have taken a critical analytical approach to the perfectionism inherent in the views of Western thinkers, especially in liberal discourse, as a violation of the moral neutrality they claim. Mahmoud rejects the claim of separation of religion from politics by emphasizing modern discourse and underlines the bias of the Western critical tradition.

Although more than two decades have passed since the publication of the first edition of The Logical Relationship between Religion and Applied Sciences, this book is still one of the most coherent and accurate works that shows the position of this intellectual current. The author of the book has tried to show the position of the Academy of Islamic Sciences on these issues, considering the academic literature on topics such as science, technology and development. So this book was seen for proper introduction and critique. In this article, we have shown that the author of the book does not have much control over the latest controversies in the field of science and religion studies-even in contemporary Iran. Today's controversy, which has challenged European-Christian hegemony based on the study of science and religion, could open a new space for a different view of the relationship between religion, culture, and technology. Therefore, it is expected that the author will write the second edition of the book, considering the latest achievements of contemporary scientology and theology.

This Article scrutinies The book 50 Key Concepts in Gender Studies by Pilcher, Jane& Whelehan, Imelda. The book provides an authoritative account of gender studies – what it is and how it originated. The author of this article have choosed the book becaue in IRAn there are many questions about gender studies so it is nessecary Analysis it's key concepts. Then the author inquires about some of gender concepts, in Islamic – persian's tradition. Then she introduces ten principles for global dialogue contains: Persian languag is none gender; Equality of rights for women and men; Gender justice; Unity of mater and mind; Synergistic of male and female in family; Gender and syberic world; Axial unity in gender and sexual comunications; Authenticity of mercy; caring and maternal ethics; None gender of management jobs; Human unit criterion for gender and sexual assessment.

Exploring the humanistic intellectual ideas, one should first of all get acquainted with the different methodological approaches, for which some authors are the exemplars in reality. This is true for explorers in the domain of political thought, especially the one who are interested in hermeneutical methodological approaches. They would surely find Quentin Skinner’ s approach towards the author-context hermeneutical methodology (applied in The Foundations of Modern Political Thought) very interesting. Due to its author’ s unique methodological approach towards understanding features of political thought, the publication has been considered as one of most influential texts in the contemporary academic exploration in political thought. Indeed, the author, Quentin Skinner, not only provides valuable information about the how-ness of development of modern political thought, but also makes evaluation of his author-context hermeneutical methodology possible. Reviewing the book’ s features, including the shape and content, the present study attempts to critically explore the methodological foundations and different aspects of Skinner’ s author-context hermeneutics, and thus, evaluate The Foundations of Modern Political Thought.

The book of Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples was written in anti-colonial texts with orientations toward anthropology, research, and science. From anthropology to science and research was blamed by writer because of using them by colonial system. The author claims that science, research and anthropology have contributed to colonization. Evidences of inhumane research by British colonists in New Zealand on the Maori is presented in the book. This book shows that, in the face of numerous struggles that the Maori tribes have made with the colonists, today the meaning and application of “ research” have become different from the past, and they welcomed to “ research” with open arms. According to the evidence, the main culprit is not "research" but the economic and political ambitions of the colonial countries that overshadow the name of research and anthropology. The Maoris always in particular and the Polynesians generally are introduced and identified from the perspective of foreign anthropologists, But in this book, she is a Maori woman who writes and records and expresses her opinion and analysis of the past and anthropology. In this book, is not to be seen anti-colonialist view of the West or colonialism in the light of their understanding of the Maori. This issue is less addressed in anti-colonial works. Writing about the Maori themselves and their wounds will help to improve the situation, but it does not require us to understand the West and colonize from a careful perspective and pay attention to the subjective layers.

Lifestyle, which determines a person's orientation to life, was first introduced in psychology by Alfred Adler. Adler's anthropological perspective, have influenced the formation of the concept of lifestyle. According to Adler, man is a social being whose most important motivation is to overcome inferiority and attain perfection in life, by relying on free will. Also, man is inherently neutral to moral values, and moral values are not real. According to the anthropological view of this theorist and the social and cultural conditions of his life, which is fundamentally different from the Iranian Islamic society, it is necessary to critique and examine this theory according to the intellectual foundations of Islam. From the Islamic point of view, man is a two-dimensional being whose relation is not limited to the social environment and is also related to himself, God and nature. Also, the human will is in line with the will of God, and as a result of this will, he is responsible for his behaviors. According to Islam, the purpose of life is to worship and a nearness to God. That is, if all the behaviors of a Muslim man are for God and His pleasure, that is, his intention to do things is only God's pleasure, he will approach God and the purpose of his creation will be achieved.

Moral anthropology is a newfound field in interdisciplinary studies in moral philosophy and anthropology. ‘ The Subject of Virtue: An Anthropology of Ethics and Freedom’ by James Laidlaw is one of the most effective books ever in this area. The author tries to approximate the boundaries of anthropology and moral philosophy. He uses notions and theories from both fields, and it makes the book to be more than a mere anthropological study. For instance, he draws the notions of virtue and freedom from moral philosophy and anthropology respectively. As a result, the book could be regarded as a successful interdisciplinary study, which benefits from both disciplines and at the same time contributed to them methodologically. To do so, he uses philosophical resources to support anthropological researches. Laidlaw also wants to facilitate new resources in the field of moral anthropology, and puts some figures-like Foucault, MacIntyre, and Williams-together to improve the discussion of moral anthropology.

The current review is on a book titled: Not by Genes Alone written by Peter J. Richerson and Robert Boyd. The review begins with an introduction to Human sciences in Iran and the world and different aspects are discussed. The role of biological factors and Genetics in shaping human behavior and culture is critiqued. Although this book is not a new book on this matter, it refers to the importance of culture and biological evolution. The authors describe the importance of culture for understanding the human behavior and the fact that culture is part of biology. The authors believe that to understand culture, the "population thinking" (thinking that the influence on a population is main cause of change in culture and not individual human being) is the key. Genes and environment interact together and both play a role in human behavior.

In this essay, I will try to study the form and content of the book Against Liberalism, to show that John Kekes's work is suffering from a kind of theoretical trap that runs throughout his book. In doing so, I will follow a textualist Standpoint by which I will try to highlight the main framework of Kekes's understanding of Liberalism. I will explain that his understanding of Liberalism is fundamentally affected by his conservatist Standpoint. This affection is the main source of what I will call Kekes's Theoretical trap. The theoretical trap that ultimately leads the author to a misunderstanding on his goal, which is to present a coherent critique of liberalism, and turns his work into rhetorical statements in political debates. I have tried, as far as possible, to refrain from using my personal views on politics in this paper, especially in the face of liberalism and conservatism. John Kekes's book is in general, and in terms of scientific validity and the importance of the contribution to the subject area, has a very low validity and quality.

Theory is consider as an "approach" as a toolbox for constructing and experimentally examining questions and concepts. In recent decades, the debate over the status of theory has always been the subject of debate and intellectual debate. What is the essence of the theory? How can theory be consider as a more comprehensive toolbox for intervening in contemporary cultures, and what can be done about it? The focus of discussion, critique and evaluation in this article is the book Theory Toolbox: Basic Concepts in Humanities, Social Sciences and Art. The main idea of the book is that according to Gilles Deleuze, theory should be consider as a toolbox for constructing and experimenting with questions and concepts and as a more comprehensive tool for intervening in contemporary cultures. The book was written by Jeffrey Nealon and Susan Giroux and published in English in 2012 by Rowman & Little field. This book was translated into Persian in 1396 (2016) by Abbas Lotfizadeh and Morteza Khoshamadi and has been made available to those interested by Qoqnoos Publishing.

The book Virtuous Life in the Secular Age is the work of the Iranian thinker Farhang Rajaee and the Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor. This book Written based on a common concern between the two thinkers. This common concern is the relationship between "religion and modernity" and the possibility of a religious life in the modern world. The book is a combination of authorship and translation, and written in the Framework of Thomas Springs. In the present article, while introducing and reviewing the mentioned work, its critique and critical evaluation will be on the author's agenda. Criticism of the work indicates that methodologically the work has not been able to implement the four stages of Springs. Therefore, the most important critique of the present work can be considered a "methodological" critique.