The Impact of the Ideas of Rene Descartes on the Emergence of Modern Secularism and Weakness of the place of religious education in society

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Ph.D., Jurisprudence and Fundamentals of Islamic Law, Qom Branch, Islamic Azad University, Qom, Iran

2 Assistant Professor, Department of Theology and Islamic Studies, Farhangian University, Qom, Iran

3 Master's degree, Quran and Hadith Sciences, Mazandaran University, Babolsar, Iran.

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to explain the impact of the ideas of Rene Descartes on the emergence of modern secularism and as a result, weakness of religion institution in society; to highlight the effect of modern philosophy on the appearance of secularism and weakness of the state of religious teachings. The method of study is descriptive-analytic and the obtained information is extracted from the direct works of Descartes as well as what outstanding interpreters inferred from his books. The results show that Descartes by offering some philosophical themes has assisted in the emergence of secularism in the modern era. These themes can be found within 3 categories: First, in his philosophy, he has just referred to a conception of God and regards that as a guarantee for human recognition. Second, by replacing the thinking mind instead of soul, he maintains that humans have just the minor reason that only thinks of this world’s profit and thus, the role of revelation is ignored in human guidance. Accordingly, the mind would have no function but reasoning and would be deprived from being the source of life. Third, death is not the separation of soul from body, but it is as a result of failure in an organ of the automatic body. It is crystal clear that these teachings have no result but to weaken the state of religious insight.

Keywords

References

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Research in Islamic Education and Training
Volume 2, Issue 3
July 2022
Pages 59-82

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