Falsafatuna

Falsafatuna is a book by Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr, published in 1959, which has been translated into English as Our Philosophy. It is a critique of European philosophy, especially of capitalism and socialism, from an Islamic viewpoint. It was aimed at secular youth in Iraq, and was written in response to the growth of communist ideas.

==Details== The introduction of the book talks about the four major social schools of thought—capitalism, communism and socialism, and Islam. According to Sadr, the capitalist system is "devoid of the philosophy on which every social system must rest...it is a materialistic system, even though it is not based on a clearly outlined materialistic philosophy."(10) Capitalism creates big producers who are constantly in need of larger markets and new countries to sell their products to. The individual feels responsible only for himself and feels like "he is in a constant fight, equipped with no weapons other than his personal powers, and provided with no purposes rather than his personal interests."(14) Sadr then attempts to explain the philosophy and flaws of the Marxist school of thought. He feels that Marx approached society through a materialistic perspective and sought to solve the problem of injust distribution of wealth by reconstructing society on socialist lines. Sadr says that it created a society where there was no motivation for the individual to work harder than needed and the "communist economy clashed with actual human nature". (16) Sadr then explains how Islam reconciles the personal motivations of the human being with social interests by creating morality and ethics. Human beings keep these values in mind and are "expected to evaluate all the steps they take....[according to] the satisfaction of God".(27)