Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
SELCUK UNIVERSITESI TURKIYAT ARASTIRMALARI DERGISI-SELCUK UNIVERSITY JOURNAL OF STUDIES IN TURCOLOGY, sa.52, ss.267-281, 2021 (ESCI)
The central question or the main issue of the Ottoman intellectuals in the 19th century was about the future of the Ottoman state; they tried to find out solutions that would save the Ottoman Empire from the impasse, resulting from the rising economic and political dominance of the West. Unlike traditional ulema of the empire, the Ottoman-Turkish intellectuals sought the solution not in tradition, but in the Western science and technology, both of which are the main dynamics of modernity. In other words, many of the Ottoman intellectuals of this period saw the future of the Ottoman state in modernization, especially in transferring Western science and technology to the Ottoman-Turkish society. However, Gokalp, as one of prominent intellectuals of the era, recognized that the secular dimension of modern Western civilization was rooted in the rising influence of techno-scientific rationalism and individualism. Focusing on the concepts of civilization and culture, he discussed possible solutions to the central question of the Ottoman intellectuals, namely, "how can this state be saved?" in a world where nationalism and secularism had increasingly become widespread in every space, especially in the West. Therefore, this study primarily aims to evaluate Ottoman intellectuals' views on the problem of modernization. The main purpose of this study is to elucidate Gokalp's approaches to the modernization of the Ottoman-Turkish society by examining his views based on the concepts of civilization and culture. Therefore, the focus of this study is to scrutinize Gokalp's views on civilization and culture (hars).