Philosophical anthropology is a philosophical field that can be categorized under practical philosophy. This allows for shifting away from abstract philosophical inquiries in favor of scientific and practical philosophy, such as the philosophy of culture, religion, belief, science, ethics, art, and health...

"Know thyself"—that is the overarching motto of philosophical anthropology, as it urges repeated practices of self-reflection and the ongoing human endeavors to understand oneself. Reflecting upon oneself can mean two things:

1. In accordance with what a person encounters in life and seeks to represent themselves through.

2. In accordance with how both the individual and life itself become an epistemological problem for them. It is a matter that oscillates between the perspective of life and the perspective of knowledge.

The main objective of this issue of Silsilat Al-Anwar journal lies in attempting to define concepts and identify the roles underlying many practices and rituals prevalent in social and public spaces, as well as many widespread daily ideas—whether religious, social, institutional, or communicative... ontologically within a certain Jender (gender/genus), to borrow Heidegger's factual language. For instance, Cassirer bases his critique of philosophy on confronting metaphysical oppositions that are no longer useful. Instead, he undertakes a philosophical analysis of concepts and symbols applied to anthropological phenomena, calling them "symbolic forms," at the forefront of which are: language, myth, science, the state, and culture. The foundational pillar here is the direct orientation toward "human lived experience," as philosophy is inseparable from lived experience as a distinctly human trait. The role of "philosophical anthropology" lies in phenomenologically and hermeneutically describing, interpreting, and attributing meaning to the various symbolic media upon which life is built.

An individual speaks based on their own personal experience, seeking to give meaning to what they go through. In doing so, they need to define their concepts, first among which is: What is a human being? In this position, they find themselves in need of knowing and understanding themselves so that others may understand them. Consequently, they need to master organizing themselves within the broader scope of existence... that is, they face the necessity of forming their own vision regarding the pattern of life and its domain to construct ideas and representations that enable them to aggregate its events. This is because all laws of thought unify forms through which they express exemplary stances toward humanity and life. It is a kind of philosophy of life immanent to the human being with an intimacy unparalleled in other domains, where every expression utilized by a human to comprehend their life is an integral part of it.

This human-oriented philosophy transforms the individual into a philosopher of life, as it enables them to construct ideas about life, perceive their outcomes, and even derive insights from past experiences. Even if insufficient for rigorous science, it provides the general atmosphere in which spiritual creations are born and works to ensure continuity by overcoming the isolation that seems to dominate these creations when considered outside the framework of life.

The practical dimension of philosophy cannot be revealed except within research fields that intersect with various human sciences by probing their dimensions characterized by praxis. Religion, for example, originates from life and leads back to it. Immediate facticity is the starting point; from the religious person's perspective on life, this facticity of life must be interpreted from within itself. It can only be understood through mythical events that transcend life in its empirical form. However, religion posits an extension of life—a transcendence of life when viewed in a way that serves as its pinnacle and ultimate fulfillment. Health, politics, and the will are all measured similarly.

Editor-in-Chief

Prof. Mourad GOUASMI