Cassam’s Philosophical Account of the Extremist Mindset; Assessment with a Focus on the Forqan Group

Document Type : Original Research

Authors
M.H. Mohammad Ali Khalaj 1
H. Sheykh Rezaee 2
1 Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Humanities, Khatam University, Tehran, Iran
2 Department of Science Studies, Iranian Institute of Philosophy, Tehran, Iran
10.58209/jpt.4.4.313
Abstract
Philosophers have recently turned their attention to the problem of extremism, partly inspired by the “Extremism: A Philosophical Analysis” book. We introduce this debate, particularly focusing on Cassam’s perspective, and use it to examine the extremism of the Iranian militant group known as Forqan. In the first part, drawing on Cassam’s account of different types of extremism, we argue that Forqan was not only a method extremist group but also that its members exhibited what Cassam calls the extremist mindset. In the second part, we contend that Forqan's extremism challenges Cassam’s account of the extremist mindset. According to his framework, purity is an important element of the extremist mindset, yet Forqan, as an extremist group, was eclectic in nature. In the remainder of the paper, we address this challenge through a linguistic and conceptual analysis of the notion of purity.

Keywords

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Philosophical Thought
Volume 4, Issue 4 - Serial Number 16
Autumn 2024
Pages 313-331