An analysis of the ontology of the collective spirit in the light of collective management with a view to the issue of agency and structure based on Sadrian philosophy

Document Type : Original Article

Author

• Armin Mansouri

Assistant professor, University of Tabriz

10.22067/epk.2025.93419.1441

Abstract

Agency and structure is an issue that has been the subject of much discussion in the history of philosophy. After determining the task of the issue of agency and structure, by considering structure and consequently proposing the collective spirit, it is necessary to theorize about the mode of existence, the manner and the constituent of the realization of the collective spirit. Such an explanation makes it possible to theorize in the next steps of the philosophy of social sciences. In this research, the author intends to explain the collective spirit in the light of this finding by reviewing the views of theorists in this field, after deducing Sadra's view on agency and structure. The findings of this research indicate that first; it is not the case that the collective spirit is realized as an independent entity in the world, but this does not mean rejecting the collective spirit, but rather the collective spirit is a mode of existence that human souls find through collective life. Second; Only in a society based on reason and rational powers as the constituent of the human soul, a society with a collective spirit is realized and third; The transcendent Medina is the same society that is the result of the realization of the collective spirit, and this collective spirit arises through the presence of the position of guardianship and the management of the collective forces of guardianship in a community consisting of human populations.

Keywords

• agency
• structure
• collective spirit
• collective power management
• guardianship

Main Subjects

• Islamic Philosophy and Kalam

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