Moral criticism of Tohfa book (8th century Hijri) based on the school of moral utilitarianism
Subject Areas : شاهنامه
Asieh Zabihnia
1
(
دانشیار گروه زبان و ادبیات فارسی، دانشگاه پیامنور، ایران(نویسنده مسؤول)
)
Ahmadreza Yalameha
2
(
استاد گروه زبان و ادبیات فارسی، واحد دهاقان، دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی، دهاقان، ایران
)
Keywords: Morality, collective benefit, Tohfa, The school of utilitarianism, Individual benefit,
Abstract :
The present study deals with the moral criticism of the Book of Tohfa (8th century Hijri) based on the school of moral utilitarianism. Tohfa has ten chapters and several allegorical and historical stories mixed with prose and poetry. The author of the book is unknown, but it is likely that its author is Mirza Sharafuddin Fadlullah Ibn Abdullah Qazwini (around 640-740). Tohfa is an educational work in cities politics that can be analyzed based on moral theories. One of these schools is moral utilitarianism. Utilitarianism believes in a normative moral system that considers the originality of pleasure as the criterion of the moral character of an action. From the point of view of this school, values deserve to be preserved and promoted as long as they can be interpreted and translated into the interests of individual well-being and collective pleasure, but the benefit of the individual is always preferred over that of the public. The present study, by using a descriptive-analytical method, tries to answer the question of which type of moral utilitarianism has a high frequency in Tohfa? Findings indicate that the most moral benefit considered in this literary text is the collective benefit and the interests of the public. The author of Tohfa, under the influence of Islamic moral teachings, conveys direct and indirect recommendations to the readers in more than 55 anecdotes and allegories which have religious and educational values in addition to creating literary pleasure for the audience.
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