انديشه دو توكويل: رهايي بخشي ايمان مذهبي در جامعه مدرن با اشاره به ايران

Emancipatory feature of religious faith in modern society in Alexis De Tocquevilleʹs social theory

This paper will firstly explicate the defining features of modern society -including the quest for equality- by referring to Alexis De Tocquevilleʹs ideas. As an important consequence of the trend towards equality is the formation of ʹsocial powerʹ, the paper will secondly illustrate how this social power will enforce itself on individuals in modern society in different forms -such as apathy of citizens, determination of public belief and expert ideas. Surprisingly , Tocqueville, contrary to his beloved teacher, does not regard the conventional ways of controlling power - including power of judiciary system, newspapers, activities of cultural, artistic and literalistic circles, and criticisms of intellectuals- as sufficient and prescribes the religious faith and moral individual as the panacea of the problem. By emphasizing on five reasons, the paper will end arguing that Tocquevilleʹs sociological vision is highly beneficial for understanding and controlling the ʹsocial powerʹ in Iranian society.