The Problem of Methodology and the State in the Turkish Thought
Understanding the Turkish thought in an integrated framework and overcoming its problems requires questioning the method(s) used in studies on the Turkish history and thought. Since conventional methods are not enough to sufficiently understand it, it is imperative to construct a new methodology. In studying social thought, one must pay attention primarily to principles upon which values, institutions and traditions of a society are built, and to ideas framing these principles, rather than the ideas put forward by particular intellectuals. Also, the intellectual rigor of a society is rooted in the continuity of its historical existence, rather than in the number of intellectuals living in that society. Studying social thought in an integrated framework requires establishing necessary connections among values, traditions and institutions in terms of their relations with the cosmological view of a society.
In this context, it can be argued that values, traditions and institutions, rooted in a world view, play an important role in the Turkish thought. This study aims to analyze the role played by these values, traditions and institutions in relation to the State. The State is central in this analysis because it has immanent connections with both this cosmological view and those values, traditions and institutions. Below it will be explored how the problems involved in the Turkish thought can be overcome with a new methodology and approach.
Ayhan BIÇAK
Yorum yazın
Yorum yapmak için giriş yapın.
