Machine summary:
The Cultural-Symbolic Soul: An Islamically Inspired Research Concept for the Behavioral and Social Sciences Mahmoud Dhaouadi This study deals with the nature of human cultural symbols such as language, thought, religious beliefs, knowledge, cultural norms and values, and science.
The essay consists of two major parts: a) the development of a basic theoretical framework for studying the nature of what we call the cultural~symbolic soul, and b) the application of this new concept to understanding, as well as the formulation of a potential explanation for, the dynamics of cultural-symbolic exchange and confrontation between human collectivities regardless of time and space constraints.
Modern Western social sciences, particularly anthropology and sociology, have accumulated a great deal of knowledge about the nature and role of human cultural symbols in directing and shaping individual, group, and collective behaviors.
However, the main intent is to offer an operational analysis of the following Islamic assumptions on the nature and the impact of human cultural symbols on both individual and collective behavior.
To begin with, the term “cultural~symbo1ic” refers to that set of cultural symbols by which humanity is distinguished from other living entities: language, thought, religious beliefs, science, cultural values and norms, and other similar characteristics.
‘The analysis of the sacred-metaphysical dimension of human cultural symbols is entirely absent in contemporary behavioral social science literature.
As shown throughout this paper, an Islamically inspired perspective of human cultural symbols makes it possible for a social scientist to deal with sensory, spiritual, and metaphysical phenomena.