Authors
Faculty member, Faculty of Education, Science and Psychology, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz
Abstract
Bearing this fact in mind that socio-economic development is affected by the value system of the society, the aim of this study was to identify the sources of the value system of the Iranian society in the first half of the 14th century Hegira (coincidental with 1920-1970 period) and explain their relationship with the Iranian socio-economic development. The history of the sources of the Iranian value system was divided into two periods of 14 centuries each, a pre-Islamic and a post-Islamic era, respectively. Since in the pre-Islamic era, the dominant source of values was the Zoroastrian religion, zoroastrianism was reviewed first, This was followed by a more detailed discussion of the Islamic period. In the context of this period the holy Quran was consulted and some guidelines obtained. Also the views of Islamic traditionalist (Ashaereh), Islamic rationalists (Mo’tazeleh), and a select number of Islamic philosophers and thinkers concerning the nature of man, society, and knowledge were explored. This study arrives at this conclusion that economic growth and development requires innovation and adoption of certain values that are germaine to such development. But the value system of the Iranian society in the aforementioned period was highly traditional and imbued with concerns of the past and fell short of adopting new values and outlooks indispensible for socio-economic development. Thus the incompatibility of the value system and economic growth and development was one of the major reasons for the failure of the socio-economic plans embarked on by the Iranian Goverment during the said period.
Keywords
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