Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities

Abstract From the perspective of the new world through criticism, education & cultural manifestation, traditionalism as a strong intellectual current in the contemporary world wants to make new order in the field of culture ,science ,& education. .In the recent decade this current, which is based on a philosophical & mystic tradition, has, found  its role in the minds of many different countries & cultures. Accordingly, the educational and scientific programs related to the contemporary traditionalism which is influenced by ideas of Seyed Hossein Nasr in Iran have been valid. This paper reviews the critics of thought, especially Seyed Hossein Nasr. The  content & structure of modern science and scientific system corresponding to the alternative proposal are discussed in an interdisciplinary approach. Thus on the one hand, responding to the interdisciplinary approach of traditionalisms in contemporary world and on the other hand, alternatively returning to metaphysic tradition and not just the past, provides opportunity to understand the whole system of thought that includes the sciences such as philosophy, theology, mystic, history, psychology , art, politics and the Exacts science . In this article we will try to look at the future of science according to the critical view of Seyed Hossein Nasr towards scientific system. This approach argues that this scientific system is rooted in metaphysics an  inversion of modern era.

Abstract This paper attempts to enter the fields of history, sociology and political sciences and finds a link between their theoretical and practical bases. Therefore, the main concern in this paper is to find the relationship between Anfal (a historical and socio-political event) and modernism (a political-philosophical concept). It attempts to find out if Anfal or the genocide of the Iraqi Kurds has any relationship with modernism and if it can be considered as a by-product of modernism. By explaining the concept of modernism and highlighting the paradoxes in it, this paper examines Anfal vs-a-vis these paradoxes. To answer research questions of the theory of modernism theory and its critical attitude one has to depend on data analysis and use of the descriptive analytical method. The hypothesis in this study is that Anfal is the product of modernism. Findings of the study show that Anfal is the product of the paradoxes in modernism and modernism while encountering Anfal has shown its dark side. Fatalism is an aspect which has developed as a result of instrumental rationality which in itself is an outcome of modernism.The instrumental rationality has brought with itbureaucracy, army and technology as a result of which government fell in the hands of the Baath Partywhich was the direct product of Anfal.

Abstract One way to learn how to write an academic article is by analyzing some good and effective articles and taking lessons from them. In this way, I have chosen two articles from two different political positions, i.e. “The End of History” by Francis Fukuyama from the Right and “Modernity, Unfinished/Incomplete Project” by Jürgen Habermas from the Left. The prime purpose of this paper is to provide a translation and summary of Fukuyama’s article and the second objective is to analyze the text for extracting some theses, assumptions, research questions , etc. and finally is to compare these lessons with those that I have learned from analyzing the Habermas’s article (that I have published in a philosophical academic journal “Hekmat Va Falsafeh”). The author shows how these experiences can provide some criteria for writing academic articles and evaluating them. As we see in this paper, identifying a radical thesis, supporting it with convincing evidence and reasons and making a contribution to the body of knowledge, is  the most characteristic feature of a good and academic article. Furthermore, we show that how two articles can be used as interdisciplinary methods for developing themes and ideas in a discourse.

Abstract The conception “Transition” is one of which is commonly studied and examined in theories of modernization and development. Some scholars of development use the standards of economics, politics and culture, and see the linear transition from a traditional society to a modern one and by dividing the phase into three steps, describe some feature for transition. However, this attitude has some difficulties, in which the most important is that it emphasizes on material aspects and neglects the factors which cause formation of political thoughts in a society in transition. This study while uses Max Weber’s approach, re-defines concepts of traditional society, society in transition, and modern society. Findings indicate that disconnection between the social and political facts, in one side and the intellectual responses in another side or incapability to face the current facts lead to transition of society. The most important feature of a society in transition is crisis of meaning. There is correlation between this crises and formation of political thoughts. In fact, political thought is part of the intellectual responses to the crisis of meaning which is prevalent in the society. So, “transition” as an academic concern needs an interdisciplinary view to be discussed and analyzed; therefore, it requires courses like political theory, political sociology, and even anthropology to combine and analyze the conception of transition.

Abstract Interdisciplinary research and education are legitimate only within a sphere that has affirmed the legitimacy of the modern age. One indication is a functional rupture with traditional forms of knowledge. The question is whether interdisciplinarity in Iran have fulfilled such a condition. It appears that two decades of interdisciplinary contributions in Iran still remain distant from the functions emerging from rupture. An examination of works that take interdisciplinarity itself as their subject, as well as works that discuss various subjects through an interdisciplinary approach, demonstrates that their authors maintain a continuity-oriented will toward tradition and the past. The resistance of Iranian writers and researchers to rupture with the past may be discussed under the category referred to as the secularization theorem. This theorem assumes that modern consciousness is the secularized form of ancient Christian or pagan consciousness. Iranian authors likewise, generally within the framework of the same theorem, seek to bring about an indigenous modernity through the rereading, transmission, and transformation of tradition. One sign of the failure of this mode of contribution is precisely the interdisciplinary arrangement of knowledge in Iran. Through a concise analysis of the secularization theorem by way of explaining the categories of substance/function and continuity/rupture, this article elucidates the pathology of continuity-oriented essentialism in the articles published in the Quarterly Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies. It then, by focusing on one rupture-oriented article among them, prepares the ground for further discussions. Without continuity being called into question, and without a will toward rupture from the essences of tradition, neither the disciplinary system of knowledge nor the interdisciplinary system can fulfill their proper function.