From the perspective of Ayatollah Khamenei, humanities have some foundations such as ontology, epistemology, anthropology, methodology and axiology. In his idea, each of the foundations has some dimensions that are going to be explained in this article.
From the perspective of Ayatollah Khamenei the humanities have some foundations. One of them is ontology, which has different dimensions based on the Islamic doctrines. According to his opinion, the humanities have many ontological foundations such as the existence of God, the Almighty, purposefulness of the nature, and God's divine ruling over the universe which means the main ruler of the universe is God, the Almighty.
From the perspective of Ayatollah Khamenei, the universe is not limited to the material world, but there is, also, the hereafter and the spiritual world. In his idea, all of these aspects and dimensions have to be considered while studying the humanities. The second foundation is methodology. Ayatollah Khamenei believes that the knowledge is not only acquired through rational methods (experience and reason), but it can also be acquired through the religious methods (Quran and Sunnah) [1]
The third foundation is epistemology. Based on this principle, Ayatollah Khamenei stated that the cognition of this world and its different aspects are possible. But, some of the philosophers like Plato have remarked that the cognition is possible by the mean of reason and some others, such as Hume, John Locke and Thomas Hobbes argued that it is only acquired through sense and experience. Some ancient mystics are of the view that man can gain knowledge through Self-purification.
According to the Islamic teachings, all of the mentioned ways and methods are necessary in the process of learning and acquiring knowledge, but they are not enough; because there are some things that can be only understood through revelation. [2] Some of the Islamic scholars are of the view that there are some things, in this world, whose cognition is not possible except through revelation such as the cognition of the reality of the humans' existence, understanding of the ultimate perfection of human, perception of the religious authorities and divine leaders who guide the mankind to the right path. [3]
The fourth foundation is anthropology, in regard to which Ayatollah Khamenei said: that the human not only has a physical dimension but also has a spiritual dimension. In fact, the spiritual dimension is the essential aspect of the human existence. Considering the spiritual dimension the hereafter will have the right meaning.
The fifth foundation of humanities is axiology. Based on this foundation, Ayatollah Khamenei argues that there are two kinds of values: material values and spiritual values. In his idea the spiritual values are more important than physical values. He divided the spiritual values into intrinsic and extrinsic values remarking that the intrinsic values such as prayer, fasting and hajj connect us to Allah (J) directly and extrinsic values connect us to Allah indirectly like a bailment, honesty, justice and etc.
In conclusion, the Islamic humanities and western humanities, based on their foundations such as ontology, methodology, epistemology, anthropology and axiology are different from one another. Finally, I want to attract your attention to this point that from the perspective of Ayatollah Khamenei, creation and development of the humanities in the world of Islam, regardless of these foundations, is not only not helpful but also harmful. [4]
References:
[1] Reza Najary. (2005), Islamic Management Basics, Tehran, Payam Noor university, P.91.
[2] Morteza Motahhari, (1992), Recognition, Qom, Sadra, PP. 232 – 239.
[3] Valiollah Naghi pour Far, (2003), Islamic Management perspective, PP.67 – 71.
[4]Mohammad Ali Ramezani Farani, (2000)," Reconstruction of the Humanities through the restructuring of its theoretical foundations", Misbah Journal, No. 35.
Humanities foundations, from Ayatollah Khamenei's point of view, are ontology, epistemology, anthropology, methodology and axiology. These foundations are the main differences between the Islamic humanities and western humanities. It is clear that the differences in the foundations or the principles of humanities will lead to the changes in all the subjects and discussions related to the humanities. For instance, western ideologies don't accept the hereafter as part of the human's eternal life. So their humanities are different from what is accepted as part of the life in the Islamic humanities.