The Qur'an and the Essential Pathology of Culture

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Abstract

This writing addresses the essential pathologies of religious culture, and as an introduction to this issue touches upon such topics as the distinctive feature of human communities and animal colonies, cultural index of human community, as well as recounting general approaches in the what-ness (quiddity) of culture and dichotomizing its various types into material and spiritual and the impact of each one of the two types of material and spiritual culture on the other. The first part of the main discussion includes: the concept of pathology and cultural pathology and its division into external and internal, explaining the conditions and preconditions required for the assessment of the essential pathology of religious culture. In the second part of this discussion, the researcher has introduced six types of essential pathology for the religious culture including: weakness of belief in the foundation of culture; change of the role of cultural components, with three subtitles of deification of man, superstitiousness, and frivolousness; cultural antagonism; cultural disruption; incompatibility of thought systems; and cultural transformation. In the final part, the writer introduces the preventive strategy for cultural pathology, regarding the homogeneity of convictions with the stances of the social pragmatists as the most important preventive strategy for the essential pathology of religious culture.