The book The Theory of Transcendental Realism in the Philosophy of Political Science, authored by Dr. Mohammad Pezeshgi in Persian, has been published in 328 pages by the Islamic Sciences and Culture Academy Press. Aimed at rethinking the philosophical foundations of analyzing political phenomena, this work elucidates a novel framework based on Transcendent Philosophy (Hekmat-e Mota’aliyeh).
Emphasizing the comprehensiveness of Transcendent Philosophy as a philosophical school, the author argues in this book that realism in Islamic philosophy cannot be exclusively confined to objective realities; rather, it must also encompass constructed realities—particularly in the realm of politics, establishing a foundation for transcendental realism in political science. From this perspective, political phenomena are not merely the products of human conventions but possess levels of reality that are amenable to philosophical analysis.
In its theoretical section, the book critiques “naive realism”—an approach that perceives the mind as a passive mirror reflecting external realities. Relying on the principles of Transcendent Philosophy, the author deems this perspective inadequate and demonstrates that the mind plays an active and constitutive role in the process of perception and cognition.
However, the present work does not merely settle for emphasizing the role of the mind; it clarifies that perceptual forms, despite being influenced by mental activity, possess a mode of external existence, making their cognition possible for humans. This stance is considered an attempt to reconcile realism with the mind’s active agency in the epistemological process.
Furthermore, the author examines three key dimensions— “ontological realism, epistemological realism, and the theory of truth”—within the context of political phenomena. The book’s findings indicate that, according to the theory of transcendental realism, political phenomena are existentially connected to truth. Their conventional nature does not pose an obstacle to their alignment with the general rules of Transcendent Philosophy, particularly the principles governing absolute existence.
This work can be regarded as a step toward developing indigenous philosophical frameworks by applying transcendental realism in political science—a framework that strives to establish a nexus between the Islamic philosophical tradition and contemporary issues in the humanities.
