Ma`rifat Falsafi

One of the important discussions of moral epistemology is the epistemology of "moral obligation" wherein such issues as the possibility of knowing "moral obligation", regarding sentences containing "moral obligation" as affirmative or imperative, and the absoluteness or relativity of such sentences are dealt with. Allama Tabatabaie, the famous Muslim philosopher, has no explicit statement on the epistemological discussions of "moral obligation". Thus, the expositors of his statements are in high disagreement. However, most of them have considered him as a imperativist and non-cognitivist, while some others have introduced him as a relativist! The present study uses an analytical-philosophical method to define affirmative and imperative statements in moral epistemology, and to prove that Allama regards the sentences containing "moral obligation" as affirmative statements. Besides, this article defines cognitivism and non-cognitivism in moral epistemology, and regards Allama's theory on sentences containing "moral obligation" as a cognitivist and absolutist theory. Considering three ways of recognizing moral sentences in Allama's theory is one of the evidences for his being a cognitivist.