Comparative study of Islamic and non-Islamic thinkers
Hossein Mehrabanifar; Mohammad Ali Salimi
Abstract
Human communication is one of the fundamental elements shaping the nature and structure of societies. Civil society and Madinah Fazilah are two types of societies, each encompassing different types of communication. Jürgen Habermas and Abu Nasr Muhammad Al-Farabi are among the thinkers who have ...
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Human communication is one of the fundamental elements shaping the nature and structure of societies. Civil society and Madinah Fazilah are two types of societies, each encompassing different types of communication. Jürgen Habermas and Abu Nasr Muhammad Al-Farabi are among the thinkers who have focused on the issue of human communication, its ideal form, and its role in the configuration of these two types of societies. In the present study, a comparative-analytical method, along with a reliance on fundamental methodology, has been employed to study and compare human communication and it’s levels in the thoughts of these two thinkers. What emerges from the comparison and analysis of the works of these two thinkers is that both intellectuals, with a critical perspective on their societies and the quality of communication within them, have formulated an ideal society and both are concerned with issues such as rationality, mutual understanding, and collective agreement. Habermas's communicative rationality and his envisioned rational-critical discourse and consensus-building process, while central to establishing truth and legal legitimacy, remain fundamentally grounded in conventional reason without transcending its epistemic boundaries. However, Al-Farabi's conception of demonstrative communication and mutual understanding is not confined to the human horizon; rather, it attains its full significance through its connection to the First Leader (Rais al-Awwal) of Madinah Fazilah and its metaphysical linkage to the Active Intellect (al-'Aql al-Fa''āl). This research can serve as a foundational framework for re-examining and analyzing diverse communicative systems within two distinct paradigms: Madinah Fazilah and Civil society.
