Baqir al-Olum University Department of Islamic Philosophy and Theology
Abstract
The present paper is to show that Islamic seminary school thought as an epistemological approach has the capacity for intellectualism due to the specific principles, foundations, and features it has only if we do not limit intellectualism to its historical origin and identificational barrier in the Age of Enlightenment. The paper also elaborates on the five features of this thought and analyzes intellectualism into the three main features of being contemporary, having a critical thinking, and trying to find solutions for important problems of the time. Then the paper shows that the five features of this thought are not incompatible with the three features of intellectualism. In sum, the paper emphasized the point that, although all the various projects by religious intellectualism were endeavors to help religious thought overcome the challenges of the modern world, what makes Islamic seminary school intellectualism different from the other projects of religious intellectualism are the specific epistemological framework dominating over Islamic seminary school intellectualism and its strategy for confronting with challenges of the contemporary world.
)