KONSTRUK EPISTEMOLOGI BARAT

1. KONSTRUK EPISTEMOLOGI BARAT NIRWAN SYAFRIN

2. Western civilization • “by western civilization I mean the civilization that has evolved out of the historical fusion of cultures, philosophies, values and aspirations of ancient greece and Rome; their amalgamation with Judaism dan Christianity, and their further development and formation by the Latin, Germanic, Celtic and Nordic peoples.” (al-Attas, Islam and Secularism, 134)

3. “yang saya maksud dengan peradaban Barat adalah peradaban yang berkembang dari perbauran historis dari budaya, filsafat, nilai, dan aspirasi Yunani Kuno dan Roma; melebur dengan Yahudi dan Kristen, dan berkembang dan dibentuk oleh orang-orang Latin, Jerman, Celtic, dan Nordik.”

5. “western society was modernized by a series of social and cultural developments, which can be traced back to ancient Greece and Rome and which continue into modern times.” (David West, An Introduction to Continental Philosophy, 7) “Masyarakat Barat menjadimodernkandisebabkanolehrangkainperkembangansosialbudaya, yang akarnyabisaditelusuripadaYunaniKunodan Roma danterusberlanjutpadazaman modern.”

7. “It is these elements that determine for that culture and civilization the molding of its concept of knowledge and the direction of its purpose, the formulation of its contents and the systematization of its dissemination; so that the knowledge that is now systematically disseminated throughout the world is not necessarily true knowledge, but that which is imbued with the character and personality of western culture, and charged with its spirit and geared upon its purpose.” (Ibid, 137)

8. “elemen-elemeninilah yang menentukanpembentukankonsepdanarahtujuanilmupadakebudayaandanperadabanini, sertaformulasiisidansistematisasipenyebarannya; sehinggadengandemikianilmu yang saatinidisebarkansecarasistematiskeseluruhduniabukanlahilmu yang benar , akantetapiilmu yang diisidengankarakterdankpribadianbudayadanperadaban Barat, dipenuhidenganspiritnyadandigerakkanuntuktujuannya.”

9. Lord Northbourne: modernism “anti-traditional, progressive, humanist, rationalist, materialist, experimental, individualist, egalitarian, free-thinking and intensely sentimental.” (Lord Northbourne Religion in the Modern World J.M. Dent, London, 1963; p13.) • S.H. Nasr: 1) anthropomorpisme (atau secularisme); 2) progresif evolutionis; 3) kehilangan rasa sakralitas; 4) jahil tentang prinsip-prinsip metafisis. (S.H. Nasr: "Reflections on Islam and Modern Thought" The Islamic Quarterly XXIII, iii, 1979; pp119-131.

11. “Western society is more modern because it is more rational.” (David West, An Introduction to Continental Philosophy, 8) • “reason, not faith as formerly, was regarded as the only true instrument to guide man on his voyage of discovery.” (J. Salwyn Schapiro, Liberalism: Its Meaning and History,, 17)

12. Pemikiran Filosofis Descartes 1. Menolaktradisisbgsumberilmu “nothing of the truth of which I had been persuaded merely by example and custom.” (tidakadakebenaran yang dapatmeyakinkansayahanyamelaluicontohdankebiasaan (tradisi). (Rene Descartes, Discourse on Method, terj. John veitech (London: J.M. Dent and Sons Ltd., 1960), 9)

13. 2. Mengangkatkeraguanmenjadimetode universal. “that in order to seek truth, it is necessary once in the course of our life to doubt, as far as possible, of all things.” (Ibid., 61) (untukmenemukankebenaran, adalahniscayadalamkehidupankitauntukmeragukansejauhmungkinsegalasesuatu). “doubt is elevated as an epistemological method by means of which the rationalist and the secularist believed that truth is arrived at.” (al-Attas, Prolegomena to Metaphysics of Islam, 117) “the arrival of truth is in reality the result of guidance, not of doubt.” (Ibid)

14. 3. Dualisme. Dualisme menjadi salah satu elemen terpenting dalam epistemologi Barat. Pemikiran Barat selalu diposisikan pada pola “either-or”: rasionalis-emperis; tekstual-kontekstual; subjektif-objektif; liberal-fundamentalis (radikalis); literalis-moralis (substansialis). Sementara Islam tidak mengenal dikotomis rigid seperti ini

15. Naquib al-Attas: “They combined in their investigations, and at the same time in their persons, the emperical and the rational, the deductive and the inductive methods and affirmed by no dichotomy between subjective and the objective, so that they all affected what I would call the tawhid method of knowledge” (Prolegomena to Metaphysics of Islam, 3.)

17. Francis Bacon • (NovumOrganum) • Diadikenalorang yang menggagasmetodeinduktifdalammencarikebenaran; • Diamengkritikkerasmereka yang menggunakandeduktifmelaluisilogisme “the intellect is not qualified to judge except by means of induction, and induction is its legitimate form” (Francis Bacon, NovumOrganum, dalamThe English Philosophers, 15)

19. “so the mind, when it receives impressions of objects through senses, cannot be trusted to report them truly…” (jadi, ketikaakalmanusiamenerimakesandariobjek (yang dipersepsinya) melaluipancainderanya, iatidakbisadipercayauntukmelaporkandenganbenartentangapa yang dipersepsinya) (NovumOrganumdalamEnglish Philosophers, 18)

20. ProsesInduksi

21. John Locke • Mengafirmasi Pandangan Bacon bahwa pengalaman inderawi sebagai dasar/fondasi ilmu pengetahuan; • Tapi menolak konsep innate idea (ide bawaan); • Otak manusia bagai kertas putih (tabula rasa) • Dia membedakan antara “simple” dan “complex” idea. • eg. Warna,gerak, zat padat, kehendak, dan berpikir (contoh ide simpel)

22. 3 Fungsi Otak manusia • 1. mengkombinasikan simple idea untuk membentuk complex idea; • 2. menghubungkan satu ide dengan ide yang lain; • 3. melakukan abstraksi (membentuk ide umum) dari kasus khusus.

23. Wahyu dalam Epistemologi Locke • Menurutnya ilmu yang diperoleh melalui akal lebih pasti dibandingkan dengan yang diperoleh lewat wahyu; • Meski demikian Locke tetap memberikan keutamaan pada wahyu ketimbang akal pada dua hal: • 1. Persoalan keimanan • 2. Ilmu yang tidak sampai pada level Yakin

24. “there can be no evidence that any traditional revelation is of divine original, in the words we receive it, and in the sense we understand it, so clear and so certain, as that of the principles of reason; and therefore nothing that is contrary to, and inconsistent with, the clear and self-evident dictates of reason, has a right to be urged or assented to as a matter of faith wherein reason has nothing to do.” (Ibid., 392)

25. David Hume • Mengafirmasi pendapat Locke bahwa akal manusia bagaikan “kertas putih”. “all our ideas or more feeble perceptions are copies of our impressions or more lively ones.” (An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding, dalam Edwin A. Burtt (ed.), English Philosophers, 11)

26. Baginya apa saja ide yang tidak bisa dibuktikan melalui inderawi kita harus ditolak karena tidak memiliki fondasi saintifik. • “When we entertain, therefore, any suspicion, that a philsophical term is employed without any meaning or idea (as is but too frequent), we need but enquire, from what impression is that supposed idea derived? And if it be impossible to assign any, this will serve to confirm our suspicion.” (Ibid., 13)

27. “scientific notions are those which accord with objective reality both with regard to the validity of their premises and to inferences drawn from their propositions.” • “Science has developed out of common sense but it is far more methodical and has better technique of observation and reasoning. Common sense uses experience and rules of thumb. Science uses experiment and rules of logic.” (Dikutip dari Tran Van Doan, Reason, Rationality, and Reasonablness, 92)

28. “Seeing man as part of natural order, they envisioned a science of men and society modeled on Newton’s explanation of heaven and earth, by whose explanation the potentialities of man could be realized to form a more just and human social order.” (Paul Mattick, Jr, Social Knowledge, 5)

29. Asumsi ilmu Sosial • “It is possible to discover general laws of social behavior, explanatory of observed phenomenon” • (adalahmungkinuntukmenemukanhukum general tentangtingkahlakumasyarakat, menjelaskanpenomena yang diobservasi)

30. Efek Modernisme pada Agama • 1. Humanisme • Adanya keyakinan bahwa akal mampu berdiri sendiri tanpa menciptakan nilai moral bagi dirinya sendiri (ethical autonomy); • “substitution of legalistic religion for ethical religion or reduction of revelation to reason.” (lihat Dan Joseph, Jewish Mysticism and Jewiah Ethics, hal. 118)

31. 2. Sekularisme • “it is impossible to describe as “modern” as society which tries to organize and to act in accordance with a divine or a national essence.” • “the idea of modernity makes science, rather than God, central to society and at best relegates religious beliefs to the realm of private life.” (Alain Tourine, Critique of Modernity, 9)

32. Pada gilirannya rasionalisme akhirnya melahirkan sekularisasi “…rationalization in the West was increasingly associated with processes of secularization, or what Weber calls as disenchantment. The reform of traditional institutions and practices in the interest of greater efficiency disrupts the authority of religious beliefs and values. For the rationalizing spirit, tradition and religion are no longer sufficient reasons for acting in a special way.” (David West, An Introduction to Continental Philosophy, 8)

33. Comprehensive secularism… • secularism may be defined as deliverance of man “first from religious and then from metaphysical control over his reason and language” (Harvey Cox, Secular City, dikutipdari S.M.N. al-Attas, Islam and Secularism, 17) • “the cultural process whereby the natural and the human world came to be regarded as devoid of any inherent sacrality has been called “Entzauberungder welt”, the “disenchantment of the world, according to Max Weber, when such disenchantment occur, there are in principle no mysterious forces that came into play but rather one can in principle master all things by calculation”

34. Tuhanpun diproklamirkan mati oleh Nietzsche (God is dead). • “Man is deitized and God is humanized” • kenapa Tuhan harus dimatikan? Sebab menurut Jean Paul Sarter (1905-1980) “the idea of God negates our freedom” (dikutip dari Karen Armstrong, A History of God, 1993, hal 378)

35. Sekularisasidi Barat telahmelahirkangerakankeagamaanbaruseperti Liberal Judaism, danbuatpertamakalinyadiusungolehMoses Mendelssohn (1786-1729) • Dia menyerukan ummat Yahudi melakukan asimilasi total dengan peradaban Barat sekular dengan merubah seluruh tatanan keagamaannya mulai dari prinsip teologinya, etika, dan sistem perundangannya atau biasa disebut dengan Halakhah.

36. Menurutnya gerakan pencerahan yang berlaku di Eropa (European enlightenment) beserta dengan temuan ilmiahnya adalah bersifat universal dan sesuai dengan fitrah kemanusian, oleh sebab itu ia mudah dicerna setiap akal manusia. Karena sifatnya universal dan rasional, maka agama yang selama ini bersifat legalistik pun, menurut dia, harus di tukar dengan berpusatkan pada nilai etika, sementara wahyu direduksi kepada akal (substitution of legalistic religion for ethical religion or reduction of revelation to reason).

37. Di sampingitu, Gerakan liberal Yahudi ini juga menyerukan penerapan metode emperik dalam studi historis, dan menegaskan tentang historisitas Taurat dan hukum-hukum Halakhah yang didasarkan pada teks. Hal ini tentunya tidak mengherankan, karena menurut mereka “the Pentateuch is a humanly authored document, it is a composite work from multiple sources and different periods.” (‘Irfan ‘Abd al-Hamid Fattah, Al-Fikr al-DinifiMuwajahahTahaddiyyat al-Hadathah,” disampaikanpadaceramahumumdi Research Centre, International Islamic University Malaysia, 2 Muharram 1422, hal. 30-33. )

38. Gerakanyang samajugaberlakudidunia Kristen, dimotorioleh Luther dandilanjutkanolehKarl barth, Friedrich, Gogarten, Rudolph Bultmann, Harvey Cox, dan yang lain-lain. • Daripada tergilas arus, lebih baik, lanjut mereka, ummat Kristiani menyambut proses ini dengan baik dan terlibat aktif didalam. Dan untuk itu, mereka secara paksa dan sengaja menginterpretasi ulang Bibel dan menyatakan sekularisasi berakar pada ajaran Bible (biblical faith). “Far from being something Christians should be against, secularizatioon represents an authentic consequence of biblical faith.” (Harvey Cox, The Secular City (New York: Collier Books, 1990), 15)