JĀYGAH-I AKHLĀQ-I ISLĀMĪ DAR TARBIYAT-I AKHLĀQĪ. [THE POSITION OF ISLAMIC ETHICS IN MORAL EDUCATION]. By Fatima Amiri. Mashhad, Iran: Jaliz. 2023. Pp. 82. Paper. 700,000 IRR.
Happiness has been regarded as an ideal for all humanity, and throughout the ages, humans have strived to attain it. One of the most significant and challenging questions in moral philosophy is: What is happiness, and how can it be achieved? Numerous works have been written on this subject, but what distinguishes this particular work is its presentation of the views and perspectives of Allamah Tabatabai, one of the greatest Islamic scholars, on the issue of Islamic moral philosophy.
After belief in God and the Prophet, ethics is considered the most important matter in Islam. Neglecting moral purification can lead to the erosion of human beliefs. Issues related to ethics and moral philosophy have been addressed by various thinkers throughout history, each setting goals based on their own perspectives. Today, the spiritual and moral crisis prevalent in human societies, along with the unclear boundaries of moral education and educational systems in Islamic societies, makes the discussion of the objectives, criteria, and methods of moral education more essential than ever. The author proceeds to define ethics and the science of ethics. Ethics is the collection of spiritual and inner qualities of a human being, and according to some scholars, it sometimes refers to certain actions and behaviors that arise from a person’s inner character. The author defines the science of ethics as the discipline that discusses various good and bad qualities and how to acquire good qualities and eliminate bad ones. The subject of the science of ethics is good and bad qualities insofar as they are related to human voluntary actions and can be acquired or avoided. Ethics is divided into three types of research: descriptive ethics, normative ethics, and meta-ethics. However, moral philosophy is the science that explains the principles and foundations of the science of ethics, and it sometimes addresses matters such as its history, objectives, research methods, and evolution. It seems that moral philosophy is another term for meta-ethics and does not include descriptive or normative discussions. The author then distinguishes between the science of ethics and moral philosophy in terms of hierarchical precedence, arguing that since moral philosophy deals with the foundational presuppositions of the science of ethics, it logically precedes it. Recently, alongside the science of ethics and moral philosophy, another term has emerged: the philosophy of the science of ethics. This discipline discusses the history, methods, subject matter, and place of the science of ethics in the classification of sciences, as well as its benefits and purposes.
The theories proposed in the field of ethics are divided into two main categories: secular ethics and religious ethics. Religious ethics is based on religion and religious standards. Secular ethics is further divided into teleological and deontological ethics. Teleologists argue that the fundamental criterion for right and wrong in ethics is the non-moral value it produces. The ultimate reference, directly or indirectly, should be the relative good created or the relative predominance of good over evil. Teleologists are divided into four groups: eudaimonists, hedonists, utilitarians, and power theorists. In contrast, deontologists are divided into rule-based deontologists and act-based deontologists. Rule-based deontologists believe that we have rules for distinguishing right from wrong. Act-based deontologists seek to determine our moral duty for each specific and particular case. The author then defines moral education as the process of removing the dust of forgetfulness from human nature, nurturing latent potentials for acquiring moral virtues, and compelling the human soul to practice and habituate what is referred to as moral goodness, guiding individuals toward growth and excellence. One of the important concepts in moral philosophy is the discussion of happiness. Happiness is defined as each individual, through their actions, voluntary movements, and deliberate deeds, reaching the perfection that God has placed in their innate nature—that is, the specific perfection unique to human beings. The author then discusses happiness from the perspectives of Western and Islamic philosophy, as well as the views of Western and Islamic thinkers.
The author proceeds to elaborate on the life, ethical theories, and works of Allamah Tabatabai. Allamah Tabatabai had various scholarly dimensions, including exegetical, philosophical, mystical, jurisprudential, hadith, mathematical, and literary aspects. Among the topics discussed in Allamah Tabatabai’s moral philosophy is the classification of ethical schools. According to him, these schools are as follows: the Greek school, the general religious school, and the specific religious or Quranic school. Allamah explains the difference between these three schools by stating that the first school invites to social truth, while the second invites to real truth and true perfection, which leads to otherworldly happiness. The third school, however, invites to absolute truth, meaning that God bases His foundation and education on pure monotheism, the result of which is pure servitude and worship. Allamah believes that these three schools are levels of a single truth, as all three ultimately lead to the realization of truth.
Allamah Tabatabai was the first to introduce the theory of “iʿtibārīyāt” (conventionalism) in ethical propositions. According to him, ethical propositions and their imperatives are matters of convention. Conventional concepts are those that have no real external referent, but the mind assigns them a conventional referent. Allamah Tabatabai applied conventional perceptions to all actions, believing that no action falls outside the realm of convention. The discussion then turns to the concepts of good and evil (ḥusn wa qubḥ), and the author presents the views of Western and Islamic philosophers on this topic. Some consider reason as the criterion for good and evil, while others consider pleasure, desires, or individual preferences. Allamah Tabatabai regards good and evil as two conventional attributes derived from convention and obligation, since the attributes of goodness and badness are relative, and sometimes a single action can be described as both good and bad under the same conditions. Therefore, good and evil must be conventional and non-real. Allamah Tabatabai believes that faith can be the source of ethics, and faith in anything will lead to the corresponding ethics. He further discusses the relationship between the innate disposition for worship and the innate moral disposition, arguing that the moral disposition is a necessary consequence and product of the disposition for worship. He states that the spirit of monotheism flows through the noble ethics that Islam calls for, and the spirit of ethics is disseminated in the actions that individuals are obligated to perform. Thus, all components of Islam, if properly analyzed, return to monotheism, and if ethics and actions rise from their lower level, they will become monotheism.
In the final section of this work, the author mentions the research conducted on the topic of happiness in moral philosophy and provides a report on them. One of the points overlooked in this work is the lack of engagement with the challenges of the contemporary world. Despite mentioning the ethical crises in modern societies, the work does not deeply explore practical solutions or the specific challenges of modern communities. Additionally, the author primarily focuses on describing and recounting views without providing a critical or comparative analysis of different perspectives.
