The aim of this study was to find out whether ethical leadership has an impact on employees’ organizational identification and the perceptions of organizational politics moderate this process. To this end, to ensure triangulation on findings, two separate researches were made. First, a cross-sectional survey was conducted on 137 employees who worked at the head office of a private bank in Istanbul using self-report questionnaires. Second, 2 years later, a time-lagged survey was conducted on 119 employees who worked at the (...) same organization. Hierarchical regression analyses were performed on the collected data from studies 1 and 2. Findings of both studies indicated that ethical leadership resulted in organizational identification slightly more weakly in employees who perceived organizational politics. Drawing on findings, new researches investigating impacts of organizational politics on managerial processes in other organizations may be conducted in the future. Moreover, organizational leaders, who realized the adverse consequences of organizational politics, may take precautions against such tactics. Finally, findings may be noteworthy, because this research is believed to be the first to investigate empirically the moderating role of organizational politics in the association between ethical leadership and employees’ organizational identification. (shrink)

This book engages with the work of Miskawayh, a formative Islamic Philosopher in the 11th century, who is acknowledged as the founder of Islamic Moral Philosophy. Miskawayh's The Refinement of Character (Tahd̲īb al-Aḫlāq) draws from both ancient Greek philosophical tradition and Islamic thought, highlighting the concepts he integrated into what he argued to be the moral core of Islam. This book pursues a comparative study by analyzing and outlining the inherent philosophical concerns of the Aristotelian concepts of Happiness, Justice and (...) Friendship, which are then brought into conversation with Miskawayh's own concepualizations of them. While Tahd̲īb al-Aḫlāq is deeply influenced by Aristotle's ethics, Miskawayh employs not only a Platonizing interpretation of Aristotelian philosophy, but also incorporates traditions of Islamic thought. The study therefore concludes that Miskawayh is merely a transmitter of ancient Greek philosophy, as shown by both his critical survey of the material available to him and his own critical contributions. Essentially, Miskawayh attempted to harmonize philosophical and religious concepts of knowledge, demonstrating the interlinking of what are perceived as-at times detrimentally-incompatible positions. Ufuk Topkara illustrates how Aristotle's Ethics are integrated, modified and at times adjusted to the broader narrative of Islamic thought and how Miskawayh's discourse, albeit philosophical in nature, remains religious in its outlook. Providing clear insight into Miskawayh's work, this book is ideal for students and scholars of Islamic Philosophy and Muslim Theology. (shrink)

This research was carried out among 220 married women entrepreneurs in Ankara urban center to determine the interaction between the business and family lives. In this study, random sampling method has been used and women entrepreneurs have been taken to sphere of the research were interviewed. The effect of being an entrepreneur on the multiple roles (family, social, economical and individual) and the state of conflict between the entrepreneur role and other roles in family were examined. On the other hand, (...) the stress occurred from business and family life was emphasized. Research findings showed that the women thought that being entrepreneurs affect their roles in family life negatively, while positively affecting their roles in social, economical and individual life and they suffered from conflicts between the entrepreneur role and other roles in family and that the role of entrepreneur mostly conflicted with the roles of housewife, mother, and wife, respectively. It was found that the most important factors causing stress due to business and family life were insufficient demand in the market, excessive expectations of family members and physical fatigue. (shrink)

This paper deals with the concept of alienation which is present in Kafka’s writings. “The Hunger Artist” is one of the best known and most discussed stories written by Kafka which displays the theme of alienation. The paper argues that alienation is a concept which originated in the philosophical discussions proposed by Hegel and which went through changes and started to be contextualised from a sociological perspective by Marx. The paper suggests that the short story entitled “The Hunger Artist” displays (...) the artist’s alienation which can be compared with the conceptualisations made by Marx. In order to examine this relation firstly, Kafka as an artist with the striking themes and style of his writings is covered deeply. Then, the concept of alienation as discussed by Marx is examined. The final section is spared for establishing a bridge between Marxist theory of alienation and Kafka as can be observed in “The Hunger Artist.”“For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,Th’ oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumelyThe pangs of despised love, the law’s delay,The insolence of office, and the spurnsThat patient merit of th’ unworthy takes,When he himself might his quietus makeWith a bare bodkin?”. (shrink)

Utopia has always been a political concept and utopian fiction establishes a link between the illustration of a desirable world and the condition of politics. The imaginary, desirable, yet attainable societies described in utopian fiction bring us face to face with our mental imprisonment. Utopia p rovides us with the ideal world of justice, human rights, freedom, and equality. Illustration of an ideal world in fiction is a step towards the establishment of a just, equal, and free world. The present (...) focus of this study is on Le Guin's short story entitled "The ones who walk away from Ornelas," which pictures an untraditional kind of utopia and in which Le Guin criticises human rights, justice, freedom, and morality via a scapegoat motif. The analysis of the story directs us to the political concept of utopia while depicting the boundaries of the utopian genre. (shrink)

The year 2020 began with the world being controlled by a then-unknown force. This unknown force would later be called a coronavirus or Covid-19. Not a single country would be free from infection by this virus. We are petrified with astonishment when confronted with this disease. Initially, after admitting the reality, we started struggling with and revolting against this virus. Time has led us to the consideration of our existence. This pandemic inclines us to revisit the major themes in existential (...) philosophy discussed by Sartre in the Nausea and the philosophy of the absurd by Camus in The Myth of Sisyphus, The Plague, and The Stranger. The study addresses the concepts of anxiety, suffering, freedom, self-deception, absurdity, and choices. When confronted with the reality of the disease, we are shocked by an odd sensation like what Roquentin felt in his experience of nausea. This bizarre feeling brought an initial rejection, a self-deception followed by suffering, and a reflection of one's freedom. The concept of freedom leads us to certain decisions we make and the choices we are offered. The absurdity brought about by the pandemic is a reality that we must accept as it is. How would Sisyphus feel if he were living in the present? The struggle by Sisyphus can be our struggle now against a coronavirus. We feel condemned to roll a rock to the top of a mountain, a punishment that seems like 'futile and hopeless labor.' However, we are stronger than our rock. The paper presents a parallelism between our suffering during the pandemic and the sufferings of Sisyphus and Roquentin. (shrink)

Air temperature prediction can play a significant role in studies related to climate change, radiation and heat flux estimation, and weather forecasting. This study applied and compared the outcomes of three advanced fuzzy inference models, i.e., dynamic evolving neural-fuzzy inference system, hybrid neural-fuzzy inference system, and adaptive neurofuzzy inference system for AT prediction. Modelling was done for three stations in North Dakota, USA, i.e., Robinson, Ada, and Hillsboro. The results reveal that FIS type models are well suited when handling highly (...) variable data, such as AT, which shows a high positive correlation with average daily dew point, total solar radiation, and negative correlation with average wind speed. At the Robinson station, DENFIS performed the best with a coefficient of determination of 0.96 and a modified index of agreement of 0.92, followed by ANFIS with R2 of 0.94 and md of 0.89, and HyFIS with R2 of 0.90 and md of 0.84. A similar result was observed for the other two stations, i.e., Ada and Hillsboro stations where DENFIS performed the best with R2: 0.953/0.960, md: 0.903/0.912, then ANFIS with R2: 0.943/0.942, md: 0.888/0.890, and HyFIS with R2: 0.908/0.905, md: 0.845/0.821, respectively. It can be concluded that all three models are capable of predicting AT with high efficiency by only using DP, TSR, and WS as input variables. This makes the application of these models more reliable for a meteorological variable with the need for the least number of input variables. The study can be valuable for the areas where the climatological and seasonal variations are studied and will allow providing excellent prediction results with the least error margin and without a huge expenditure. (shrink)

İbâdet, bütün akıl sahibi varlıkların Allah'ın varlığını idrak edebilme ve O'na karşı şükretme duygusu olarak tanımlanır. İbadet eylemini incelemek, ibadet edenin doğasını tahlil etmeyi gerektirir. Bu tahlil bizi ibadet eylemine eşlik eden bilgi/kavrayış, niyet/yönelimsellik ve sürecin sonunda ortaya çıkan özgürlükle buluşturur. Bilgi/kavrayış, Kur'an'ın ibâdet olarak işaret ettiği ilişki formuna en derin mânâyı verir. İbadet, Tanrı'nın mutlak yaratıcı iradesini keşfetme ve ona insanî seviyede eşlik etme arzusudur. Allah’ın varlığını ve birliğini bilmeye yapılan çağrı, ibadetin bilgi ve niyet unsuruna en üst seviyede (...) yapılan daveti içerir. Bu davete icabet sırasında devreye giren semboller ve her bir eyleme ibadet sırasında yüklenen anlam, insan yaşamında yeni olgulara hayat verir. Niyet yahut yönelimsellik ise, insanların parçası oldukları doğal nedensel bağları aşma arzusunu içinde barındırır. İnsanın verili olan bu düzeni ve illiyyet bağını aşarak kendine yeni bir ufuk arama çabası ibadetin niyetle ilgili kısmında içerilir. İbadet bir tanınma talebidir. Sonlu varlığın sonluluğunu ve sınırlılığını aşma arzusunu tatmin etmeyi amaçlayan bir ‘ilişki’ eylemidir. Sonlu ile Sonsuz arasındaki bu ilişkinin bilgi zemininde inşa edilmesi, Allah ile insan arasındaki sınırın bulanıklaşmasını değil tam tersine daha belirgin hale gelmesini sağlar. İbadetteki bilme, bilen öznenin her zaman bu sınırların farkında olması demektir. Niyet, sonlu varlığın Sonsuz olanla iletişime geçerek sonluluğun getirdiği değer yitimini dindirme arzusudur. Özgürlük ise sonlu varlığın Sonsuz Olan’la iletişimi yoluyla, kendisini çepeçevre kuşatan bütün kısıtlama ve dayatmalardan azade olma isteğidir. Allah’tan başkasına tapanların bir düşüş, parçalanma ve kayboluş trajedisi yaşamalarının sebebi her zaman bir kısıtın ve dayatmanın nesnesine dönüşmüş olmasındandır. Onun için Allah ısrarla ibadetin sadece kendine yapılmasını talep ederek bu trajediyi bloke etmek istemektedir. İbadetin kabulü için nasıl ibadetten önce yerine getirilmesi gereken şartlar, ibadet sırasında takip edilmesi gereken rükünler varsa, aynı şekilde ibadetten sonra yerine getirilmesi gereken şartlar vardır. Bunlar yapılan ibadetin gerçekten ibadet niteliğine sahip olup olmadığını denetleyen ibadet sonrası kriterlerdir; bu ibadetin fenomenolojisidir: İbadet bireyi kendi iç dünyasında bir itmi’nana kavuşturmalı, kamusal alanda ise ahlakî bir özne olarak inşa etmelidir. (shrink)