Document Type : Original Article

Author

Philosophy of Religion, Contemporary Philosophy, Institute of Humanities and Cultural Studies, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Testimony is an important source of religious beliefs in Abrahamic religions. The epistemological aspect of testimony is studied in contemporary epistemology and in the single report (al-Khabar al-Wahid) and massive report (al-Khabar al-mutawatir) in principles of Islamic jurisprudence (Usul al-fiqh). Regarding the main similarities and differences between testimonial justification conditions in Elizabeth Fricker and Morteza Ansari, a leading Shiite theologian, I examine the possibility of the comparison between them in this paper. Therefore, first of all, I compare the concepts of report and justification (hudjdjat) in Ansari’s principles of Islamic jurisprudence with the concepts of testimony and justification in Fricker. Then, I compare the conditions of testimonial justification in Ansari and Fricker. Finally, I show that some apparent similarities are differences in fact. Accordingly, while the comparison is possible, it should be done with great caution.

Keywords

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