Journal Of Islamic Denominations

Journal Of Islamic Denominations

A Comparative Study of the Issue of the Inseparability of Right and Obligation from the Perspectives of Höfeld and Ayatollah Martyr Motahhari

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
1 Assistant Professor, Department of Islamic Philosophy and Theology, University of Qom, Qom, Iran
2 Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy, Imam Khomeini Educational and Research Institute, Qom, Iran
10.22034/jid.2025.526588.2578
Abstract
One of the controversial issues among philosophers of right is the relationship between right and obligation; that is, whether the connection between right and obligation is accidental and therefore subject to obsolescence, or whether there is an inseparability between them? And if there is an inseparability, is it a conceptual, or a concrete and external (or objective) one? Also, is every right necessarily accompanied by an obligation, or are only some rights accompanied by an obligation? Among the thinkers who have addressed this intellectual challenge, “Höfeld” as one of the prominent and authoritative figures in the Western world, and “Ayatollah Martyr Motahhari” as one of the prominent figures in the Islamic world, are two thinkers who seriously and meticulously addressed the elucidation and examination of this issue. The present article, using an analytical-descriptive method, seeks to elucidate, compare, and conduct a comparative analysis of the views of Höfeld and Ayatollah Martyr Motahhari regarding the issue of “the inseparability of right and obligation” and ultimately concludes that while these two thinkers share commonalities in the principles of the issue of the inseparability of right and obligation, they have significant differences in the elucidation and examples of the issue.
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