Science is widely regarded as the most reliable epistemic source of providing knowledge about the world. Policymakers intend to make purposeful changes in the world. The practice of policymakers relying on scientific experts to make informed decisions about which policies to implement is called Evidence Based Policymaking. This thesis provides a perspective from the philosophy of science in order to discuss the justifiability of Evidence Based Policymaking (EBP) with respect to broadly democratic and liberal values. Justifying EBP with broadly democratic (...) and liberal values entails that the practices of EBP promote, or at least are in harmony with, values such as democratic governance and enhancement of people’s freedom and autonomy. Identifying the conditions under which practices of EBP meet such desiderata minimally requires an understanding of how sciences and scientific experts are instrumental in realizing the public’s values, needs, interests, and pursuit of freedom. In order to approach this project, the thesis adopts a philosophical perspective to conceptualize how sciences are supposed to be guided by or promote society’s values, needs, and interests. Specifically, it adopts a perspective from the philosophy of science that focuses on the relationship between science and (societal) values. The kind of philosophy of science perspective on “values in science” that this thesis adopts has two overarching pursuits relevant for the project of the thesis. Firstly, it seeks to inform the debates about which values and non-epistemic considerations are supposed to inform scientific research. For instance, it discusses the proper sources/owners of the non-epistemic desiderata that inform scientific research and the proper social mechanisms to identify these non-epistemic desiderata (e.g. Kourany, 2010; Kitcher, 2011). Second, it offers theories of the non-epistemic values’ proper roles in scientific reasoning and research that specify how their involvement in science does not unduly compromise the epistemic pursuits of science. The values-in-science perspective thereby seeks to balance the instrumental value of science (i.e., its use to pursue certain societal projects and values) with its epistemic authority (i.e., its objectivity, non-dogmatism, and reliability). The thesis advances an understanding of EBP from the perspective of the values in science by addressing issues that come to the fore when EBP is acknowledged as a value-laden practice of informed decision-making. (shrink)

Laura Hassan. Ash‘arism Encounters Avicennism: Sayf al-Dīn al-Āmidī on Creation.

Algorithms are used to calculate and govern varying aspects of public life for efficient use of the vast data available about citizens. Assuming that algorithms are neutral and efficient in data-based decision making, algorithms are used in areas such as criminal justice and welfare. This has ramifications on the ideal of democratic self-government as algorithmic decisions are made without democratic deliberation, scrutiny or justification. In the book _Democracy without Shortcuts_, Cristina Lafont argued against “shortcutting” democratic self-government. Lafont’s critique of shortcuts (...) turns to problematise taken-for-granted practices in democracies that bypass citizen inclusion and equality in authoring decisions governing public life. In this article, I extend Lafont’s argument to another shortcut: the algocratic shortcut. The democratic harms attributable to the algocratic shortcut include diminishing the role of voice in politics and reducing opportunities for civic engagement. In this article, I define the algocratic shortcut and discuss the democratic harms of this shortcut, its relation to other shortcuts to democracy and the limitations of using shortcuts to remedy algocratic harms. Finally, I reflect on remedy through “aspirational deliberation”. (shrink)

It is generally considered and widely accepted that Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī School to be effective in the formation and development of Ottoman intellectual life. However, there are some ʻulamā’ such as Jalāl al-Dīn al-Dawānī, who influenced the Ottoman mindset with both their works and ideas and beyond, they create distinct traditions. Present outline aims to draw attention to this issue through Mu’ayyadzāda ʻAbd al-Raḥmān Efendi, who is a famous disciple and representative of al-Dawānī perspective in Anatolia. In this respect, it (...) introduces the two risālas belongs to him that are important in terms of his theory of nature, and by moving here it points to some questions that need to be answered here and some issues that need to be addressed. (shrink)

Globalization can undermine as well as enable public discourse at the national, international, and supranational levels. A challenge for political theory is to imagine how a global public realm might be constituted. Because the public realm has flourished in states whose citizens are related under the rule of law, one might ask whether this model of civil association can be extended to a broader and potentially universal context. Given the contingent obstacles to a global state, realizing civil association globally implies (...) a universal confederation of rule‐of‐law states. If the public realm means free deliberation on the laws of a civil association, the ‘global public realm’ would include deliberation at all three levels. (shrink)

This paper consists of two parts and has two aims. The first is to elaborate on the historical-philosophical background of Cantor’s notions of infinity in the context of Spinoza’s influence on him. To achieve this aim, in the first part I compare Spinoza’s and Cantor’s conceptions of actual infinity along with their mathematical implications. Explaining the metaphysical, conceptual, and methodological aspects of Cantor’s expansion of the orthodox finitist conception of number of his time, I discuss how he adopts Spinoza’s motifs (...) to overcome the challenges on his way to proposing his transfinite infinites. To achieve the second aim, i.e., to investigate the philosophical foundations of Cantor’s transfinite infinites, I follow a three-step outline analyzing Cantor’s three principles along with their metaphysical and epistemological-linguistic aspects. I analyze the strengths and weak sides of Lakoff and Núñez’s Basic Metaphor of Infinity and Pantsar’s Process → Object Metaphor, then compare their interpretations with mine. I conclude that the metaphors can be improved when their source domains are limited to the target domains they apply to and when supported by a thorough analysis of the historical-philosophical background of their target domains. (shrink)

This article discusses the quiddity of the empty set from its epistemological and linguistic aspects. It consists of four parts. The first part compares the concept of _nihil privativum_ and the empty set in terms of representability, arguing the empty set can be treated as a negative and formal concept. It is argued that, unlike Frege’s definition of zero, the quantitative negation with a full scope is what enables us to represent the empty set conceptually without committing to an antinomy. (...) The second part examines the type and scope of the negation in the concept of _nihil privativum_ and the empty set. In the third part the empty set is interpreted as a rigid abstract general term. The uniqueness of the empty set is explained via a widened version of Kripke’s notion of rigidity. The fourth part proposes a construction for the pure singleton, comparing it with Zermelo’s conception of singletons with the Ur-elements. It is argued that the proposed construction does not face the criterion and ontological inflation problems. The first conclusion of the article is that the empty set can be construed as a negative, formal and unique abstract general term, with quantitative negation full in scope. The second conclusion is that the pure singleton constructed out of the empty set construed in this way overcomes the criterion and ontological inflation problems. (shrink)

Pathways to Contemporary Islam: New Trends in Critical Engagement highlights that the current tensions in Islam and the Muslim world are the result of historical dynamics as opposed to an alleged incompatibility between religious tradition and modernity. The emphasis on pathways indicates that critical engagement and contestation have always been intrinsic to the history of Islam. The aim of the book is to elaborate the contemporary pathways and analyse the trends that contest the Islamic intellectual tradition, the relationship between religion (...) and politics, and the individual and collective practice of religion. The collection of essays analyses the current efforts of critical re-engagement with the Islamic intellectual tradition and underlines the historical diversity of Islamic orthodoxies that led to the establishment of various pathways in the practice and role of religion in Muslim societies. (shrink)

Reseña de Benedikt Maria Trappen, Ach, dass ich doch erst Befreiter wäre. Friedrich Nietzsche. Eine Lebensgeschichte in Briefen, München: Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil, 2020, p. 144. Benedikt Maria Trappen, Wahrheit, Ewige Wiederkehr, Wille zur Macht: Grundthemen Nietzsches in der Auslegung von Karl Jaspers, München: Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil, 2020, p. 120.

In this article the authors would like to present a history of the Turkish feminist movement. The roots of the feminist movement go back to the last decades of Ottoman Empire in Turkey when westernisation had started to take place. During the firts decade of the Republic many steps were taken to enable women to get involved in public, political and professional life and to encourage more equality in family matters. Women’s emancipation became a significant symbol of modernity. Kemalist reforms (...) attemted to create a new woman who could take place in public sphere with the men. During the 1970’s the movement of women almost disappeared in nationalist and socialist movements. After the military intervention in 1980 new female actors started to present new demands and change the nature of feminist movement in Turkey. (shrink)

Turkish culture is based on tolerance, the product of the unique Islam–Turkish synthesis. This synthesis is crucial today for a more balanced perception of Islam because it opposes extremism and the terror that is associated with it. The Turkish–Ottoman Empire followed earlier traditions and set up a system based on tolerance towards its ethnically diverse subjects. It was due to this exceptional system assuring stability and freedom of conscience that the Empire was able to hold together people of different religions, (...) languages and races, and to protect and preserve different cultures and languages. This tradition of tolerance and harmony lives on in modern Turkey. Although today there are bound to be certain misinterpretations of Islam, the majority of Turks firmly oppose intolerance and terrorism. (shrink)

Fıkıh usulünün dil ve yorum bahislerinde yer alan konulardan biri âmm lafızlardır. İlk dönemlerde umum ifadelerin tanımına, varlığına ve kapsamına dair tartışmalar yer alırken Gazzâlî sonrasında klasik mantığın konularından olan tümeller de tartışmada yerini aldı. Bu makale âmm lafızların gönderimde bulunduğu anlamın tümelliğini sorgulamakta ve klasik sonrası usul düşünürlerinin umum-tümel ilişkisine dair teorik açıklamalarını incelemektedir. Makalenin iddiası şudur: Fıkıh usulünün elfâz bahislerinde ele alınan umum ifadelerin tümellere delâletini savunan ve bunu dilin zihnî suretlere vaz olunmasına bağlayan ilk usulcü Gazzâlî’dir (ö. (...) 505/1111). Fahreddin er-Râzî (ö. 606/1210) ve sonraki dönem usulcüler ise âmm lafızların tümelliğini kabul etmemiş sadece fertleri arasında tümel bir anlamın var olduğunu savunmuştur. Aynı düşünceyi devam ettiren Karâfî (ö. 684/1285), İsfahânî (ö. 688/1289) ve Sübkî (ö. 771/1370), İbn Sînâ’nın (ö. 428/1037) etkisiyle umum ifadeleri tümel önermeler olarak değerlendirirken Teftâzânî (ö. 792/1390) kapsam kavramı üzerinden hem tüm hem tümel olarak görmüştür. Her iki farklı anlayışın öğretilerini eklektik bir tavırla inceleyen Cem‘u’l-cevâmi‘ üzerine şerh ve haşiye yazan usulcüler ise tüm, tümel ve tümel önerme olmak üzere üç farklı kabul sergilemiştir. (shrink)

Drawing on diverse philosophical and theological perspectives, the contributors to this collection debate the character of international society, the authority of international law and institutions, and the demands of international justice.

Nardin examines the moral principles underlying the idea of humanitarian intervention from the perspective of international law and from that of the natural law tradition.

The idea of ​​an aesthetics of existence deals first with meditation. Namely, the reflection on the one hand of what we call aesthetics, on the other of what we call existence, and again this consideration includes the relationship of one with the other. According to its origin, the term aesthetic [aisthēsis] means to perceive, feel or hear something. The word existence [existemi], according to its origin, means something that exists, something that is there. Thus existence also means being there. The (...) aesthetics of existence means then, first of all, the perception of existence. (shrink)

The iltifāt (reference switching) is one of the arts of high literary value, widely practiced in the Qurʾān. This art takes place in the form of switching to another person, verb mode, number, preposition or sentence type contrary to the necessity of the situation, while continuing the word as a certain person, verb mode, number, preposition or sentence type. The art of iltifāt adds certain meanings to words such as certainty, continuity and movement. It keeps the curiosity, desire, excitement and (...) shiver alive. Similar to those who read the Qurʾān, those who read the translation of the Qurʾān are expected to be able to notice these meanings as much as possible and feel the literary pleasure of this art. There are important structural differences between Arabic and Turkish. In addition, the text that needs to be translated into Turkish is Holy Qurʾān, which has a divine infinite dimension, and it is a limited human mind attempts to translate it. This situation requires an advanced level of caution and diligence in transferring the art of iltifāt to the translations of Qurʾān. The issue of the art of iltifāt and the transfer of this art to the translations of the Qurʾān has also been studied in scientific research in different world languages such as Arabic, English and Indonesian. As far as we can determine, the only study in Turkish that examines the reflection of the iltifāt in the Qurʾān is the article titled "The Translation Problem of the Art of iltifāt in the Translation of the Qurʾān" by Haşim Özdaş. In the mentioned article, five different Qurʾān translations of eight verses from different types of the art of iltifāt were examined. It has been claimed that there is no art of iltifāt in Turkish language and literature, and that the translation of the art of iltifāt in the verses into Turkish is an obstacle to understanding the verses and leads to a wrong or incomplete understanding. As a solution, while the verses are being given and translated, it is suggested that the art of iltifāt in the verses be ignored. In this research article, the cases of the translations of the Qurʾān reflecting the art of iltifāt, as an example of iltifāt between māzī (past tense) and muzāriʻ (present tense) verbs modes in the verses are discussed. In addition, it discusses the opinions that say there is no art of iltifāt in the Turkish language, that the exact transfer of the art of iltifāt found in the Qurʾān to the translations of the Qurʾān causes wrong or incomplete understanding, therefore, the art of iltifāt should be ignored when the verses are being translated. As a result, the present study argues that the art of iltifāt is also a subject of Turkish rhetoric, which should be reflected in the translations of the Qurʾān as much as possible, and the transfer of the art of iltifāt in the translations of the Qurʾān does not constitute an obstacle to understanding the verses, on the contrary, the reference to this art in the verses will contribute to the realization of the divine purpose and wisdom. The data sources of the research were created from 6 verses and their 22 different translations, using various sampling methods. The data collected from these were analysed using the comparative text analysis method on the basis of the inductive approach. Qualitative data was converted into quantitative data, processed in the SPSS application, and the findings were presented as numerical figures in tables. At the end of the research, it was determined that iltifāt between māzī and muzāriʻ verbs modes studied in the science of rhetoric was also a subject of grammar as the phenomenon of time shifts in verbs. It was seen that the art of iltifāt was applied in an average of 800 places in the Qurʾān, and the iltifāt between māzī and muzāriʻ verbs modes accounted for 6.9% (55 pieces) of this amount. Most of these fifty-five iltifāts were iltifāt from the māzī verb mode to the muzāriʻ verb mode (63.6%), while the amount of iltifāt the muzāriʻ verb mode to the māzī verb mode was less (36.4%). In the analysed translations of the Qurʾān, it was determined that the iltifāt between māzī and muzāriʻ verbs modes was not reflected at a rate of 90.9%, and the art of iltifāt was completely abandoned in 14 of the 22 translations. It was concluded that the reason why the art of iltifāt in the verses was not reflected in the translations of the Qurʾān was the belief that this art was not found in Turkish and that the transfer of this art leads to wrong and incomplete understanding. In the research, it was proposed to increase the number of scientific studies in which various translation strategies and techniques were tested in the transfer of the art of iltifāt in the verses in the translations of the Qurʾān. In this respect, this research article is expected to pave the way for more research on the issue of transferring the arts used in the Qurʾān and to be useful for future translations of the Qurʾān. (shrink)

Araştırma, ilahiyat fakültesi hazırlık sınıfı öğrencilerinin Arapça dersine dair görüş ve tutumlarını değerlendirmektedir. Değerlendirme sonucunda Arapça öğretiminin daha verimli olması için çözüm önerileri sunmayı ve bu suretle ilahiyat fakültelerinde Arapça öğretiminin kalitesinin iyi yönde arttırılmasına katkı sunmayı amaçlamaktadır. Araştırmanın önemi, Arapça öğrenimini daha etkili kılmak için öğrencilerin düşüncelerinden hareketle çözüm üretmesidir. Örneklem olarak Tekirdağ Namık Kemal Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Hazırlık Sınıfı öğrencileri seçilmiştir. Araştırma verilerini toplamak için Aydoslu tarafından geliştirilen “İngilizce Dersine Yönelik Tutum Ölçeği” Arapçaya uyarlanarak kullanılmıştır. Araştırmanın bağımsız değişkenleri (...) cinsiyet, öğretim türü, mezun olunan lise türü ve Arapçaya ayrılan zamandır. 2018-2019 eğitim öğretim yılı bahar yarıyılında 166 öğrenci-nin katılımıyla toplanan veriler SPSS yazılımı kullanılarak analiz edilmiştir. Elde edilen bulgulardan hazırlık öğrencilerinin çoğunun Arapça dersine yönelik olumsuz tutumlara sahip olmadığı ancak Arapçayı zor bir dil olarak gördükleri anlaşılmaktadır. (shrink)