Bu makale Aristotelesçi bilim teorisinin ve filozofların ilmî eserlere belirli konularla giriş yapma geleneğinin İslamî ilimlerin tasavvur edilmesi ve sunulmasında etkili olduğunu fıkıh usulü el kitaplarından Muhtasarü’l-Müntehâ’nın girişi üzerine yapılan tartışmalara binaen göstermektedir. Aristotelesçi bilim teorisi her ilmin konu, ilke ve meselelerden oluştuğunu ileri sürmekte, felsefî mukaddime yazma geleneği ise bir eserin konusunu, amacını ve sair belli başlı meselelerini ele alarak giriş yapma tarzını sunmaktaydı. Makale felsefî bilim teorisiyle ilmî eserlere mukaddime yazma geleneğinin, İbnü’l-Hâcib’in (ö. 646/1249) Muhtasarü’l-Müntehâ’sının girişi üzerine yapılan (...) şerh ve haşiyelerde kesiştiklerini göstermektedir. Bu metne onlarca şerh ve haşiye yazılmıştır, fakat makalede bunlar içerisinden on üç ve on dördüncü yüzyıllarda Kâdî el-Beyzâvî (ö. 691/1291-92), Ziyâüddin et-Tûsî (ö. 706/1306-7), Kutbüddin eş-Şîrâzî (ö. 710/1311), Cemâleddin el-Hillî (ö. 726/1325), Bedreddin et-Tüsterî (ö. 732/1332), Adudüddin el-Îcî (ö. 756/1355), Sa‘deddin et-Teftâzânî (ö. 792/1390) ve Seyyid Şerif el-Cürcânî (ö. 816/1413) tarafından yazılanlar incelenmektedir. İbnü’l-Hâcib’in giriş mahiyetindeki iki cümlesi üzerine yapılan yorumlar mebâdî kelimesinin ilkeler ve başlangıçlar şeklindeki -ilki bilim teorisi ikincisi ise bilimlere giriş yazma geleneğiyle ilişkili olan- iki anlamı arasındaki gerilimi göstermektedir. Makale İbnü’l-Hâcib’in Muhtasar’ı üzerine yapılan şerh ve haşiyelerdeki tartışmalar üzerinden hem fıkıh usulünün tasavvur ve sunumunun felsefî bilim teorisi ve bilimlere giriş yazma geleneği doğrultusunda olduğunu hem de bu metnin mebâdî kavramının lügavî ve ıstılahî anlamlarını kapsayacak şekilde yeniden tasavvur edilmesini tetiklediğini ortaya koymaktadır. En nihayetinde, mebâdî üzerine yapılan tartışmaların bir bilimin birlik yönünü bilmeyi temellendiren etkili bir argümanı doğurduğu, ayrıca o dönemdeki yaygın bilim teorisine karşı ilimlerin esasında üç değil tek bir öğeden oluştuğu şeklinde bir eleştiriye yol açtığı gösterilmektedir. (shrink)

This book explores the central questions and themes lying at the heart of a vibrant area of philosophical inquiry. Aligning core issues in psychiatry with traditional philosophical areas, it presents a focused overview of the historical and contemporary problems dominating the philosophy of psychiatry. -/- Beginning with an introduction to research issues, it addresses what psychiatry is and distinguishes it from other areas of medical practice, other health care professions and psychology. With each section of the companion corresponding to a (...) philosophical subject, contributors systematically relate themes in philosophy of psychiatry to topics in philosophy of mind, phenomenology, philosophy of science, ethics, social and political philosophy, metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophy of medicine. Looking ahead to new research directions, chapters address recent issues including the metaphysics of mental disorders, gender and race in psychiatry and psychiatric ethics. -/- Featuring discussion questions, suggestions for further reading and an annotated bibliography, The Bloomsbury Companion to Philosophy of Psychiatry is an accessible survey of the debates and developments in the field suitable for undergraduates in philosophy and professional philosophers new to philosophy of psychiatry. (shrink)

All democratic constitutions feature "the people" as their author and ultimate source of legitimacy. They claim to embody the political form that citizens are in some sense supposed to have given themselves. But in what sense, exactly? When does a constitution really or genuinely speak for the people? Such questions are especially pertinent to our present condition, where the voice of "the people" turns out to be irrevocably fragmented, and people themselves want to speak and be heard in their own (...) voices. _Founding Acts_ explores the relationship between constitutional claims of popular sovereignty and the practice of constitution-making in our pluralistic age. Serdar Tekin argues that the process of making a constitution, or its pedigree, is as morally and politically significant as its content. Consequently, democratic constitution-making is not only about making a democratic constitution but also about making it, as much as possible, democratically. Tekin develops two overarching arguments in support of this claim. First, citizen participation in the process of constitution-making is essential to the democratic legitimacy of a new constitution. Second, collective action, that is, the political experience of constructing public life together, is what binds diverse people into a democratic peoplehood. Bringing into dialogue a wide range of canonical and contemporary thinkers, Tekin examines historical realities extending from revolutionary America and France to contemporary South Africa and Germany. (shrink)

The Prophet, whom Allah sent the whole universe and humanity as mercy, produced not only many judicial rules and practices regarding the relations of a person with Allah and other people in Islam but also uttered sentences about the explanation of holy book, Qur’an, and about how this book can be put into practice. The issue whether and how much these sentences of the prophet (hadith) and acts of the prophet (Sunnah) are binding have been discussed by both hadith methodologists (...) and fiqh methodologists; accordingly, a great many studies were produced. In hadith methodology, the discussions about Sunnah of the Prophet had their reflections in the studies of fiqh methodology; and especially Hanafi jurists propounded considerations about this issue. Hussein b. Ali al-Saymerî (d. 436/1045) one of these jurists, is the student of Muhammad b. Mûsa al-Khwârizmî (d. 403/1012), who is the student of Abû Bakr al-Jassâs (d. 370/980), who is an authority in Hanafi methodology. al-Saymerî, who adopted the method of al-Jassâs in fiqh methodology, systematically categorized several fundamental issues which were discussed and were related to fiqh methodology during his time; and he defended the views of Hanafi scholars about these issues primarily against Shâfiʿîs and several fiqh and kalam schools. While presenting the views and evidences of Hanafis, al-Saymerî initially applied for the views of founder imams of Hanafi sect such as Abû Hanîfa, Abû Yusuf and Muhammad al-Shaybânî; following these scholars, he greatly benefited from Hanafi scholars from Iraq region, such as Abu’l-Hasan al-Karkhî (d. 340/952) and his student, Abu Bakr al-Râzî al-Jassâs. When the relevant parts of his study is analysed, it is seen that the effect of al-Jassâs is especially noticeable. In this article, we will study the binding issue of the Sunnah of the Prophet within the context of al-Saymerî’s study, which has extant and is called Mesâilu’l-hilâf fi usûli’l-fiqh. We consider that the different attitude of al-Saymerî about the Sunnah of the Prophet from the other methodologists and hadith scholars and the underlying reasons of these differences are worth to be investigated and emphasized. (shrink)

Background:Moral distress is a common problem among professionals working in the field of healthcare. Moral distress is the distress experienced by a professional when he or she cannot fulfill the correct action due to several obstacles, although he or she is aware of what it is. The level of moral distress experienced by nurses working in intensive care units varies from one country/culture/institution to another. However, in Turkey, there is neither a measurement tool used to assess moral distress suffered by (...) nurses nor a study conducted on the issue.Aim/objective:The study aims to (a) validate the Turkish version of the Moral Distress Scale–Revised to be used in intensive care units and to examine the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the scale, and (b) explore Turkish intensive care nurses’ moral distress level.Method:The sample of this methodological, descriptive, and cross-sectional design study comprises 200 nurses working in the intensive care units of internal medicine and surgical departments of four hospitals in three cities in Turkey. The data were collected with the Socio-Demographic Characteristics Form and The Turkish Version of Moral Distress Scale–Revised.Ethical considerations:The study proposal was approved by the ethics committee of the Faculty of Medicine, Cumhuriyet University. All participating nurses provided informed consent and were assured of data confidentiality.Results:In parallel with the original scale, Turkish version of Moral Distress Scale–Revised consists of 21 items, and shows a one-factor structure. It was determined that the moral distress total and item mean scores of the nurses participating in the study were 70.81 ± 48.23 and 3.36 ± 4.50, respectively.Conclusion:Turkish version of Moral Distress Scale–Revised can be used as a reliable and valid measurement tool for the evaluation of moral distress experienced by nurses working in intensive care units in Turkey. In line with our findings, it can be said that nurses suffered low level of moral distress. However, factors which caused the nurses in our study to experience higher levels of moral distress are inadequate communication within the team, working with professionals they considered as incompetent, and futile care. (shrink)

Background:Moral distress is a common problem among professionals working in the field of healthcare. Moral distress is the distress experienced by a professional when he or she cannot fulfill the correct action due to several obstacles, although he or she is aware of what it is. The level of moral distress experienced by nurses working in intensive care units varies from one country/culture/institution to another. However, in Turkey, there is neither a measurement tool used to assess moral distress suffered by (...) nurses nor a study conducted on the issue.Aim/objective:The study aims to (a) validate the Turkish version of the Moral Distress Scale–Revised to be used in intensive care units and to examine the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the scale, and (b) explore Turkish intensive care nurses’ moral distress level.Method:The sample of this methodological, descriptive, and cross-sectional design study comprises 200 nurses working in the intensive care units of internal medicine and surgical departments of four hospitals in three cities in Turkey. The data were collected with the Socio-Demographic Characteristics Form and The Turkish Version of Moral Distress Scale–Revised.Ethical considerations:The study proposal was approved by the ethics committee of the Faculty of Medicine, Cumhuriyet University. All participating nurses provided informed consent and were assured of data confidentiality.Results:In parallel with the original scale, Turkish version of Moral Distress Scale–Revised consists of 21 items, and shows a one-factor structure. It was determined that the moral distress total and item mean scores of the nurses participating in the study were 70.81 ± 48.23 and 3.36 ± 4.50, respectively.Conclusion:Turkish version of Moral Distress Scale–Revised can be used as a reliable and valid measurement tool for the evaluation of moral distress experienced by nurses working in intensive care units in Turkey. In line with our findings, it can be said that nurses suffered low level of moral distress. However, factors which caused the nurses in our study to experience higher levels of moral distress are inadequate communication within the team, working with professionals they considered as incompetent, and futile care. (shrink)

In this paper, the scientific realism/anti-realism debate, which is one of the most popular topics in the metaphysics of science, will be examined in supporting the realistic wing. In this respect, the discussion will be conducted by keeping the subjects of ‘existence of an external mind-independent world’ and ‘unobservable entities’ at the center of this paper. In the context of understanding the world, ‘Science’ activity is not the sum of the research carried out only by considering empirical data; on the (...) contrary, it will be claimed that it is an endeavor that pursues unknown but interesting things (such as protons, photons, or viruses) and tries to give meaning to the world. Thus, against the empirical rigid attitude of anti-realism –bearing in mind the views of logical positivists; it will be illustrated that scientific realism is an understanding based on metaphysics and has a philosophical basis. (shrink)

In this paper, I aim to explore Lewis’s best system analysis and how it can accommodate laws with exceptions. The Best System Account has been introduced to provide an alternative view for both minimalist and counterfactual theories of regularities. Simple regularity theory faces problems in which there is some generalization that seems to be a law or some regularities that are established accidentally. It tries to exclude the accidental generalization from the account. However, the best system analysis can solve the (...) problem of how to distinguish between laws and accidents. (shrink)

This paper explores how the diagnosis of mental disorder may affect the diagnosed subject’s self-concept by supplying an account that emphasizes the influence of autobiographical and social narratives on self-understanding. It focuses primarily on the diagnoses made according to the criteria provided by the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), and suggests that the DSM diagnosis may function as a source of narrative that affects the subject’s self-concept. Engaging in this analysis by appealing to autobiographies and memoirs written by (...) people diagnosed with mental disorder, the paper concludes that a DSM diagnosis is a double-edged sword for self- concept. On the one hand, it sets the subject’s experience in an established classificatory system which can facilitate self-understanding by providing insight into subject’s condition and guiding her personal growth, as well as treatment and recovery. In this sense, the DSM diagnosis may have positive repercussions on self-development. On the other hand, however, given the DSM’s symptom-based approach and its adoption of the Biomedical Disease model, a diagnosis may force the subject to make sense of her condition divorced from other elements in her life that may be affecting her mental- health. It may lead her frame her experience only as an irreversible imbalance. This form of self-understanding may set limits on the subject’s hopes of recovery and may create impediments to her flourishing. (shrink)

Kantçı strateji skolastik dönem boyunca etkisinden çıkılamayan teolojik ahlak perspektifinin yıkılmasına yol açarken, aklın otonomisi argümanıyla hesaplaşmayan bir ahlakın düşünülemez olmasını sağlamıştır. Ahlak yasasını düşünebilme ve bu yasa doğrultusunda seçimlerde bulunma ve eyleme özgürlüğünü savunan bu argüman, insanın doğası gereği, kendi yasalarını belirleyen bir varlık olduğu kabulüne dayanmaktadır. Ancak bu kabul, insan ve yaşam dünyasına ilişkin yeni birçok sorunu beraberinde getirmiştir. Bu sorunlar karşısında gelişen varoluşçu itirazın en radikal temsilcilerinden Heidegger, Kant tarafından benimsenen kavram ve kategorilerin neredeyse tamamını reddetmiş ve (...) işi etik veya ahlakın hiçbir hükmü olmayacağı bir düşünce sistemi inşa etmeye vardırmıştır. Heideggerci düşüncede ahlakın olanağı sorununun ele alınacağı bu çalışmada, geleneksel batı felsefesinin kalıplarından kurtulabilmek için ahlak kavramının terkedilmesi dışında bir seçenek bulunamayacağı iddiasının tartışmaya açılması hedeflenmektedir. (shrink)

ABSTRACT This article discusses the Celtic myths, figures, and central themes of Tomm Moore’s animated movie Song of the Sea, from a transmodern feminist perspective. While the movie offers a vivid portrayal of the dichotomy between the tranquil Irish countryside and the turbulent city of Dublin, its main theme revolves around a rural family’s lament for the loss of the mother who is a modern-day personification of the Celtic selkie. This curious female figure embodies contradictory characteristics: she is semi-human and (...) at the same time a mother and a wife who, in struggling with her in-between state, leaves her family and returns to her mythical roots. By focusing on several of the Celtic mythical figures and central themes of maternal loss, motherhood, gender relations, and family reconciliation, I attempt to show that the movie’s transmodern echoes and concerns suggest that alternative family formations and changed gender roles are possible in Irish society and in the world more generally. (shrink)

A human who open their eyes to life finds themselves within a religious tradition and culture. They encounter religious objects and places, meets religious people and live in communication with them. They learn about religion from their family and their surroundings; they see people who perform their religious worship, and from time to time, they themselves participate in these worships. They ask questions, do research, and turn to the use of religious words and concepts. Childhood period has a significant impact (...) on the formation of religious belief, attitudes and behaviours in adulthood, in other words, on the construction of religious identity. The study examined the origins of individual and collective religious identity, religious experiences from childhood to adulthood and cultural contexts. Thus, it was investigated that how participants constructed their religious identities by making sense of the reference frameworks that they acquired from religious narratives and traditions. In this context, the factors that shape and define the construction of religious identity have been analysed in two dimensions, theoretical and field research. 60 participants aged 25 to 75 living in Kahramanmaraş were interviewed in between 2021 and 2022. The study analysed findings about how adult religious individuals build their religious identities using phenomenological patterns from qualitative data collection methods. In the study, the participants were selected with the purposeful sampling method identified with the phenomenological pattern and the study conducted 40-160 minutes of face-to-face in-depth interviews with semi- structured questions prepared separately for 5 main and 13 sub-categories. The data obtained was analysed and categorised using the MAXQDA 12 package program. At this point in our research, the question of what are the factors that influence the formation and maintenance of a person’s religious identity is sought in the framework of the research findings. According to the findings obtained as a result of the study which is based on the basic approaches of role theory it has been observed that the family factor is prominent in building an individual’s religious identity. In addition to the influence of parents on family members in shaping religious identity, it has been observed that some participants are influenced by extended family members such as grandparents. On the other hand, it has been found that schools and courses attended under the referral of the family or the society, the religious officials and religious groups met, and media programmes followed are factors that influence the building of the individual’s religious identity after the family. It has been determined that religious texts and folkloric elements provide stereotyped roles in making choices such as the style of clothing eating and drinking, which are symbolically reflected in the individual’s life, in the implementation of religious orders and moral principles, in short, the construction of religious identity. (shrink)

Downsizing is a process whereby human relations management emerges as a critical skill in its effective management. This paperis about perceptions of employees of a small-sized Turkish firm who survived successive downsizing decisions. It was found that downsizing affected the organizational justice-related perceptions of survivors. The questionnaire used to explore organizational justice-related perceptions involved three dimensions and was developed by Saunders and Thornhill (1999). Procedural, interactional and distributive justice-related perceptions of survivors were influenced by the way management handled the process. (...) Management credibility, communication and commitment were other variables studied. The findings supported the view that downsizing not only affects the victims but also the survivors. (shrink)

Highly committed teachers spend more effort helping their schools achieve the academic goals. The Covid-19 pandemic had a dire effect on education worldwide. However, just after a few semesters, teachers were asked to return back to schools to teach in person. This study aims to analyze the organizational commitment levels of school teachers before and after the implementation of the Covid-19 pandemic measures that resulted in a two semester break in face-to-face teaching. In this study, a quantitative research method was (...) utilized. A total of 300 teachers’ commitment levels were assessed in a longitudinal test by using a popular tool in order to see the relative change as result of Covid-19 pandemic in Cyprus. The study mainly focuses on gender, marital status, education levels, job experience, and duration of work in the organizations in which the information from responses were statistically analyzed. According to the results of the quantitative analysis, the organizational commitment sampling average were determined to be at medium-high levels. The commitment levels of teachers were observed to decrease after the Covid-19 pandemic measures came to be implemented in schools. A detailed investigation of the school teachers’ commitment levels corresponding to the different demographic characteristics before Covid-19 and after the implementation of normalization measures is presented herein. (shrink)

Suffering repeated experiences of moral distress in intensive care units due to applications of futility reflects on nurses’ patient care negatively, increases their burnout, and reduces their job satisfaction. This study was carried out to investigate the levels of job satisfaction and exhaustion suffered by intensive care nurses and the relationship between them through the futility dimension of the issue. The study included 138 intensive care nurses. The data were obtained with the futility questionnaire developed by the researchers, Maslach Burnout (...) Inventory and Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire. It was determined that nurses who agreed to the proposition that the application of futility demoralizes health-care professionals had low levels of job satisfaction but high levels of depersonalization. It was determined that nurses had moderate levels of job satisfaction, emotional exhaustion, and personal achievements but high levels of sensitivity. Nurses’ job satisfaction and sensitivities are positively affected when they consider that futility does not contradict the purposes of medicine. (shrink)

Post-classical period witnessed intense debates on aspects of the Avicennan theory of science. Among them one set of discussions concerned the issue of subject matter (mabāhith al-mawdūʿ) in a science. They were raised by Ṣadr al-Sharīʿa (d. 747/1346) in the introduction of his al-Tawḍīh, a commentary on his legal theory text al-Tanqīḥ. Therein, he raised three questions: (1) whether the subject matter of a science can be multiple, (2) what restricting subject matter of a science means, and (3) whether one (...) thing can be the subject matter of multiple sciences. Taftāzānī (d. 792/1390), a proponent of the Avicennan theory, objected to Ṣadr al-Sharīʿa’s positions in his al-Talwīḥ, the most well-known supercommentary on al-Tawḍīh. The paper analyzes this debate on the issue of subject matter in sciences, and thus sheds light on the reception of an important aspect of the Avicennan theory of science in the postclassical period. (shrink)

Background Whistleblowing is an action that particularly requires moral courage. Understanding the relationship between nurses’ levels of moral courage and their whistleblowing approaches is important for reducing adverse situations in healthcare services. Objectives This study aims to understand and analyze the relationship between nurses’ levels of moral courage and their whistleblowing approaches. Research design This is a descriptive and correlational study. Methods The study sample consists of 582 nurses actively working in a province in northwest Türkiye. Research data were collected (...) using an Information Form, the Nurses’ Moral Courage Scale, and the Whistleblowing Scale. Ethical considerations Ethical approval from the ethics committee, institutional permission, and informed consent from the participants were obtained for data collection. Findings Nurses were found to perceive their moral courage as high, and their whistleblowing levels were at a moderate level. There was a significant and moderate relationship between participants’ levels of moral courage and whistleblowing levels ( p <.05). Conclusions The findings emphasize the importance of promoting moral courage and creating an appropriate environment for exposing ethical violations. This study can contribute to the development of strategies to enhance nurses’ moral courage and foster a more ethical working environment in healthcare services. (shrink)

The work named Fusûlü'l-İmadî, which belongs to Ebü'l-Feth Zeynüddîn el-İmadî, the grandson of Burhaneddin el-Mergînânî, the owner of the famous Hidaye, which includes the subjects of Fürû-i Fiqh and the law of trial, has been one of the main works that has been applied by influencing many mufti, kadi and jurists, especially the Ottoman sheikhs. The work is also important in terms of being a source for many fatawa and fürû-i fiqh works. The fact that the work written in the (...) Fergana region is one of the main sources referenced both in the Ottoman geography and in other Muslim geographies also shows that the work is valuable. In this study, by pointing out the importance and value of the work, it was tried to determine the contribution of the work to the Ottoman period fetâvâ mecmuas and Hanafi fiqh literature. In the study, the life of Ebü'l-Feth Zeynüddîn el-İmadî was mentioned, and his work Fusûlü'l-İmadî was examined in detail. The contribution of the Ottoman Fetvâhâne, which uses Fusûlü'l-İmadî as a source, to some of the fetâva works, which are accepted as one of the most respected fetâva journals, is discussed and some quotations from the work are included with their examples. In addition, the contribution of the work to the Hanafi fiqh literature was examined on the basis of some fürû-i fiqh works of the Ottoman period and the work called Mir'ât-ı Mecelle. Thus, by pointing out the importance of Fusûlü'l-İmadî and his contribution to the literature of fiqh and fatwa, this work was drawn attention to new studies. (shrink)

Summary Leading scholars offer perspectives from the philosophy of science on the crisis in psychiatric research that exploded after the publication of DSM-5. -/- Psychiatry and mental health research is in crisis, with tensions between psychiatry's clinical and research aims and controversies over diagnosis, treatment, and scientific constructs for studying mental disorders. At the center of these controversies is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), which—especially after the publication of DSM-5—many have found seriously flawed as a guide (...) for research. This book addresses the crisis and the associated “extraordinary science” (Thomas Kuhn's term for scientific research during a state of crisis) from the perspective of philosophy of science. The goal is to help reconcile the competing claims of science and phenomenology within psychiatry and to offer new insights for the philosophy of science. -/- The contributors discuss the epistemological origins of the current crisis, the nature of evidence in psychiatric research, and the National Institute for Mental Health's Research Domain Criteria project. They consider particular research practices in psychiatry—computational, personalized, mechanistic, and user-led—and the specific categories of schizophrenia, depressive disorder, and bipolar disorder. Finally, they examine the DSM's dubious practice of pathologizing normality. (shrink)

The Ottoman physician-poet Nidai of Ankara studied medicine in Crimea and served as a court physician in Istanbul during the reign of Sultan Selim II. Nidai marked the classical period of Ottoman medicine particularly with his acclaimed works and translations in Turkish, among which Manafi al-Nas became widely known. The final chapter of Manafi al-Nas also is known independently under the name Vasiyyetname, which is a remarkable guide on medical ethics. This didactic, sixty-eight-line poem includes Nidai’s moral advice to physicians (...) that they should be well mannered, trustworthy, and competent in their arts and should treat their patients with modesty, honesty, and compassion. Even after 450 years of existence, Vasiyyetname retains its ethical and artistic relevance and still serves as a vehicle for the transmission of humanistic ideals far beyond the time and place it was written. (shrink)

This paper concerns Aristotle and Galen’s scientific method and the place of philosophy in their natural scientific endeavors as manifested in their discussions on the role of the heart in the formation of the embryo. I will begin first by discussing Aristotle’s conception of natural sciences and his discussion on the role of the heart in the body and embryo. Following this is Galen’s critique of the role of the heart in the formation of the embryo. Galen had considerably more (...) knowledge about anatomy and the construction of the embryo, yet his scientific method is not radically different from Aristotle’s as he also utilizes both logical arguments and observational data. Nevertheless, he attempts to banish philosophers from discussing anatomical issues, thus opening the path to specialization. (shrink)

In ancient philosophy, Logic was seen as the instrument and method of philosophy. However, sometimes detailed and profound discussions have been made about the demonstrativeness of philosophical sciences. Most philosophers have accepted that the mathematical sciences were especially demonstrative and likewise, most of the natural sciences are demonstrative for them. But can metaphysics be demonstrative or not? This is one of the fundamental issues around which the great debates were made in Islamic philosophy. While these issues are known to specialists (...) in this field, we can hardly find studies and research that deal with this issue to a sufficient degree and precise discussions in our day, I mean the issue of demonstrativeness of art of demonstration, art of dialectic, art of sophistry, art of rhetoric and art of poetry. It is clear that the peripatetic philosophers did not write a separate book or treatise on the issue of the demonstrativeness of the logical arts, but we can claim that they believed that all these arts were demonstrative and that they were extracted/abstracted using the art of demonstration. We can come across important phrases and statements that prove this claim between the lines of the books that these philosophers wrote in the science of logic. And while Aristotle is the founder of the science of logic, then how is it to be understood that there are practical particular examples and some easy rules of these arts? According to their texts, we can say that they believed that the actual performance of these arts by their actors in materials by particular and practical actions differs from extracting their universal rules by abstracting them from their materials through theoretical and analytical research. For example, the poems of the great poets; Homer and al-Mutanabbi, are particular works in the matter of the art of poetry performed by poets. The books written by Aristotle and Ibn Rushd in the art of poetry contain universal rules extracted abstractly from the materials of their particular poems. As for understanding the demonstrativeness of the remaining four arts, it is easier, but how should we understand the demonstrativeness of the art of demonstration itself? It seems that the peripatetic logicians also distinguished between applying demonstrative inferences to significant materials and extracting the universal rules of the art of demonstration from these materials. These five logical arts are not particular and practical things, but they are philosophical, demonstrative, and analytical studies for the peripatetic logicians in Islam. In this paper, we will try to draw attention to the issue of the demonstrativeness of the five arts and to open a new discussion about it based on some important sentences and phrases expressed by al-Fārābī, Ibn Zur‘a, Ibn Sīnā, Ibn Bājja and Ibn Rushd between the lines in their books, which they wrote in the field of logic and within different and multiple contexts. (shrink)

In Nicomachean Ethics X.7, Aristotle argues that perfect happiness consists in contemplation alone. The question that I want to take up in this essay is whether the superiority of contemplative life fits with Aristotle’s argument for the self-sufficiency of the political life, according to which politics can lead us to happiness without being guided by philosophical knowledge of the highest sort. My basic argument is that, paradoxical as it may seem, Aristotle is led to acknowledge that contemplative life is superior (...) to political life by the same strand of argumentation which makes him plea for the self-sufficiency of the political life in the first place. In order to show how this argument unfolds, I take my point of departure from Aristotle’s analysis of phronēsis as stated in Nicomachean Ethics VI and bring it to bear on his discussion of the respective virtues of the contemplative and political ways of life in Politics VII. (shrink)

In this paper, I examine several commentaries and glosses on the prolegomenon of Najm al-Dīn al-Kātibī’s (d. 675/1276–77) Shamsiyya that relate to debates on the Aristotelian and Ibn Sīnān theory of science in the postclassical period. Chief among the commentaries of the Shamsiyya is Quṭb al-Dīn al-Rāzī’s (d. 766/1365) Taḥrīr al-qawāʿid al-manṭiqiyya. This commentary, rather than the base text of the Shamsiyya, set the stage for later interpretations by Mirak al-Bukhārī (fl. 733/1332), Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Qāshānī (d. 755/1354), Saʿd al-Dīn al-Taftāzānī (...) (d. 792/1390), al-Sayyid al-Sharīf al-Jurjānī (d. 816/1413), Dāwūd al-Khwāfī (fl. 839/1465) and ʿIṣām al-Dīn Isfarāyinī (d. 945/1538). I focus on three issues that were raised in these interpreta­tions of the Shamsiyya’s prolegomenon: (1) the place of the elements of sciences in logical corpus, (2) the notion of the prolegomenon and its content, and (3) the real essence of a science. I attend to the particular debates and contentions on these issues to reveal the general idea of science at that time. (shrink)

This article contributes to the study of the globalization of science through an analysis of Ahmed Cevdet's nineteenth-century translation of the sixth chapter of Ibn Khaldun's (d. 1406) Muqaddimah, which deals with the nature and history of science. Cevdet's translation and Ottomanization of that text demonstrate that science did not simply originate in Europe to be subsequently distributed to the rest of the world. Instead, knowledge transmitted from Europe was actively engaged with and appropriated by scholars, who sought to put (...) that material within their own cultural context in a manner that could serve their own intellectual and practical needs. Cevdet's case is particularly interesting because it demonstrates that (1) Islamic conceptions of human nature, the soul and the nature of knowledge provided particularly fertile soil in which empiricist and positivist traditions could take root, and (2) aspects of modern science – specifically its ostensive separation from metaphysical debates – made it more attractive to Islamic theologians than was, for example, the work of Aristotelian philosophers. Through an exploration of Cevdet's career and a close analysis of his historiographical treatment of Ibn Khaldun's account of sciences, this article foregrounds the agency of non-Europeans in the late nineteenth-century circulation of scientific knowledge. (shrink)

In the history of Islam, many scholars who have contributed to Islamic sciences both with their works and their thoughts have been attributed to teşeyyuʻ (being inclined to Shi'ism). Dārakutnī (d. 385/995) is one of the scholars who were subjected to this accusation. Dārakutnī, who was considered one of the leading ḥadīth reciters of his period with his strong memory and deep understanding, wrote many works showing his competence in the science of ḥadīth He was also given the title of (...) “Amīr al-mu’minīn fi’l-hadīs”, a title bestowed upon very few people. The background behind Dārakutnī’s accusation of teşeyyuʻ is that he memorized the poems of Sayyid al-Himyerî (d. 173/789), a Shiite poet. In this article, the allegation of teşeyyu' attributed to Dārakutnī has been examined and the information that constitutes the source of the said accusation against him has been examined and whether this accusation has been handled on a solid basis has been examined. As a result of the research conducted on both Dārakutnī’s own words and works and the Ahl al-Sunnah and Shia rijāl literature, it was concluded that the accusation of teşeyyu' directed against Dārakutnī was merely an allegation and was not based on a scientific basis. In the research, the information in the relevant sources was examined and an attempt was made to present the information obtained in an objective manner. (shrink)