Philosophy has been prominent since the very first centuries in Islamic tradition, as one of the main components of human civilization, and has been searching for truth through rational method as a branch of knowledge, and in the Islamic world, it has been changed into the form of Islamic philosophy according to the conditions of the Islamic society and now it is a part of the intellectual-cultural tradition of Islamic civilization.
The Department of Philosophy in Research center for Islamic Philosophy and Theology while acknowledging that the progress of any culture and civilization is not possible without its traditional heritage and the use of the innovations and advancements of others, works on two fields: Islamic philosophy and Western philosophy. By working on research projects in the field of Islamic philosophy, this department is seeking to irradiate and revive the intellectual heritage of Muslim philosophers. Investigating the angles of darkness and illuminating the perspectives’ accessories, and expansion and reformation of the theories in Islamic philosophy are the most important goals of the Department of Philosophy. In the field of Western philosophy, this department uses positive points and criticizes the negative points through centuries of studies conducted by Western philosophers. In addition, Department of Philosophy, by comparing the Islamic and Western philosophical traditions, can reveal the strengths and weaknesses of each, and broaden new horizons and then use them to advance the Islamic civilization.
Accordingly, the Department of Philosophy has designed and implemented large-scale projects in accordance with the aforementioned objectives.
Of these large-scale projects, we can refer to the macro-project “the capabilities of Islamic philosophy and its relation to social and political life.” The purpose of this project to investigate this issue that, “Does Islamic philosophy has only dealt with or have to deal with abstract and theoretical thinking, or has it also dealt with social and political domains and should be? And does it basically have the ability and capability to enter such areas?”
Another large-scale project in the Department of Philosophy is “The Soul and Body Relationship “. This project which is being implemented in two areas of “Islamic psychology” and “philosophy of mind”, tries to find an answer to Muslim philosophers’ questions and present a new explanation of Islamic psychology, through investigating and introducing new theories of analytic philosophers on mind and presenting Islamic psychology of Muslim philosophers systems through suggesting the issues which are brought up in mind philosophy.
The issue of the body and soul is one of the most fundamental topics in the field of philosophical anthropology, which has been discussed and investigated since the old days among Muslim philosophers as well as philosophers in the West.
Since this fundamental issue has been dealt with in the teachings of divine religions and is closely related to the immortality of man and the quality of his resurrection, handling this religious and philosophical issue has been the concern of many thinkers. Today, in the West, new theories, including dualism, materialism and constitution, have been raised in the explanation of the body and soul, and the critical and comparative study of these theories with the theories of Muslim philosophers and theologians is a serious concern for the macro-project “the relationship between the soul and body”. Thus, in March 2010, the RCIPT organized an international conference on Religious Doctrines and the Mind-Body Problem which was highly welcomed by philosophers and thinkers inside and outside Iran, and the selected papers presented in this conference were published in seven volumes. Due to the common themes in the fields of Usul’s(Islamic principles) terms and philosophy of language and Usul, the macro-project “Philosophy of Language and Usul” has aimed at comparing these two issues and determining the strengths and weaknesses of each.
The programs of the Department of Philosophy are organized in the forms of macro-projects, the plans approved by intellectual and cultural hubs in Islamic Propagation Office of Qom Seminary, compilation and translation of thematic monographs, as well as holding scientific meetings and discussions.