Aristotle stated that art is entirely mimesis in his only work related to the art, Poetics. Therefore, mimesis is the basic concept of Aristotle’s philosophy of art. Mimesis is not merely an imitation or depiction on the contrary to the assosiation of its dictionary meaning. In the Aristotelian system, mimesis is a concept of creation and is to complete what nature has left. The main claim of this dissertation is that the mimesis has a teleological structure. Namely, there is a purpose attributed to the art in the Aristotelian system.

The thesis of backwardness holds a signifant place in the Euro-centric progressivist history-writing. A main pillar of the thesis has been the question of the printing press in Ottoman history. Based on the Ottoman archival records and the contemporary European literature, this article attempts to question its central assertion that the European civilization advanced through the spread of the print whereas the others lagged behind in the lack of the print.