Creed

This work compiles the communications issued at the seventh symposium organised by the research unit «Clinic Psychopathology» on February 2nd and 3rd, 2007 at the Tunisian Sciences, Humanities and Arts Academy Beit al-Hikma on the theme of «creed».
The participants’ aim in this symposium is to highlight the unbiased contexts leading to creeds’ emergence and to clarify some belief aspects such as the irrational certainty, fanatism and obscurantism which characterise some people looking for tranquility and serenity. According to Riadh Ben Rjeb, Wahid Saafi, and Francois Marty respectively clinic psychology professor, Arab islamic civilisation professor and clinic psychology as well as French professor, this multi-factoral phenomenon is based on psychoanalytic motivations in view of the human being urgent need to grant himself premises capable of enriching his psychological void. Furthermore, according to the thinker Abdelmajid Charfi there are no beliefs trenscending the economic or the social; which means the historical context. Hence the need to understand them within the very context in which they emerged. In his communication on creed, sacrifice and djihad, Hamadi Sammoud provides several examples picked up from everyday life of violence, alienation and conflict. Eventually, the main idea shared by all communications is that in order to break up with the irrational certainty one has to be endowed with a critical mind and know how to formulate a problematic.
The participants’ contributions to this meeting fit into this framework.