Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities

Abstract The human perspective has a direct impact on the environment. In the modern era, man has considered himself in the place of God and has dominated the nature that has resulted in encroachment upon its privacy and disruption of its cycle. During antiquity, man always defined himself within the universe and had firm belief that the cycle of nature could not and should not be disrupted. The manner of man’s interactions with nature and the environment has been varied and sometimes contradictory in different periods. The existence of a bio-centric view and the acceptance of the principle that man is part of nature and his life depends on the surroundings, has led to behavioral occurrence based on the respect for nature and the environment. Ancient Iranians, too, as one of the world’s first civilizations, have always been at the forefront of human and environmental issues. The laws governing the ancient world were based on belief patterns, and the governing policies of that time were based on the notion of the protection of the environmental elements of soil, water, plants and animals. In this article, apart from examining the bio-centric perspective on the remaining myths from ancient Iran, as well as exploring the sources of Zoroastrianism and the Avesta, the relationship between the policies of kings and rulers and environmental ideas is discussed. This article shows that ancient Iranians with a bio-centric attitude and using religious propositions tried to satisfy the four elements of nature and emphasized its preservation.

Abstract The conditions of success and reasons for failure of development strategies and plans, are among the most important “development studies” issues. This has been explained in different ways: for example, there is a strong relationship between the efficiency of development strategies and plans and development theories. Based on paradigmatic-implicative theory, which explains the relationship between development theories and political thought and considers the development theory as one of the practical implications of political thought, a condition for the success of development strategies and development plans can be found to be rooted in the political thought foundation. Therefore, in the present article we explore the political thought supporting Rostow’s Stages of Economic Growth theory, as one of the oldest and most important development theories which in the 1960s resulted in understanding development as “growth”. We use qualitative content analysis method to show that the political foundation of Rostow’s Stages of Economic Growth theory is based on the principle of “the most utility for the most people” in accordance with Bentham’s utilitarian political thought.

Abstract Political thought is the kind of thinking which is formulated in different disciplines; political philosophy, political ideology, political theology, and political literature are some of its important examples. Although in the course of history political science was transformed to the “science of power”, once again it has returned to its origins for articulating ways to achieve “good life” and “political thinking”. Considering this epistemic turn to ethics and the normative turn in the study of development and economics, benefiting from the practical implications of political thought seems to be a historical necessity. In the present article, first we discuss the main analyses and theories concerning the nature of political thought, and then a paradigmatic-implicative narrative is presented as an alternative for the interdisciplinary explanation of political thought.

Abstract From the dawn of its history, cinema has been considered as a phenomenon in which different thoughts, among them the political, could be addressed. Indeed, many film-makers have presented various aspects of political norms and the good order of society through movies. However, this combination of the idea and image has been addressed in different ways and among others, as seems, the historical narrative has the potentiality to convey critical and normal political ideas in cinema. Exploring different types of representing the political thought in cinematic historical narratives, the present study attempts to identify cinema’s interdisciplinary potential as a conjuncture for the disciplines of history and political thought.

Abstract In order to make the combination of different approaches in different disciplines possible, interdisciplinary studies need to be founded on a clear theoretical framework in which explorer’s mistake could be decreased. Thus, it is necessary to apply theoretical framework of the original discipline within the explorations in the other’s studies. This might lead the explorer towards an interdisciplinary conception of the subject. Investigating political thought in cinematic studies, the present study attempts to evaluate such hypothesis. Thus, based on Spragens’ Theoretical framework in formulating political thought, the cinematic works are analyzed beyond their aesthetic features, and so, the directors are studied as the narrators of political thought in visual mode.

Abstract Political thought is ideas about how to organize the political aspect of the human life. Because of the different aspects of human affairs, interdisciplinary approach will be more useful to understand and study political thoughts. To improve Thomas Spragens’s theory, In this paper we have adopted Skinner's Hermeneutics, psychologicalcriticismandstylisticsas methods fordealingwith political textsandideas; and also Erik Erikson’s life – span theory to studythe role of personality in formation ofpolitical thinkers’ ideas. 

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.