A New Look at the Foundations of Morality: The Example of Yalçın Koç


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Authors

  • Şahabettin Yalçın

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12988475

Keywords:

Morality, Ethics, Rationality, Theoria, Yalçın Koç.

Abstract

If we ask what makes a human being a human, the shortest answer can be said to be morality. Of course, humans have other qualities, but these qualities only gain their true meaning through morality, because morality is the essence and basis of humans. But, what is the source of morality?: Is it history, society, reason, emotions, revelation or something else? When we look at the history of Western thought, we see that several views stand out on the issue of grounding morality. One of these is the view that tries to base morality on rationality; the most important representative of this view in the history of Western philosophy is undoubtedly Kant. Another view is that tries to base morality on emotions, and the main representatives of this view are the British empiricists. Another prominent view on the issue of grounding morality is the view that tries to explain morality by basing it on religion. According to this view, adopted by all monotheistic religions in human history, morality is essentially based on the divine Word, that is, the Holy Book, and the words and actions of the prophets. Islam's understanding of morality is also like this. On the other hand, although within the framework of the general moral understanding of Islam, there are also thinkers who try to explain morality by basing it on a higher spiritual level. According to this view, which may be called Sufi morality, morality is explained based on a spiritually higher level characterized as theoria and gönül, as well as complying with the outward provisions of religion (shariah). More specifically, according to this view morality belongs to theoria and beyond (the divine Word itself). The Turkish thinker Yalçın Koç is a modern-day advocate of this view. This article discusses Koç's moral view as based on theoria and beyond

Published

2024-06-30

How to Cite

Yalçın, Şahabettin. (2024). A New Look at the Foundations of Morality: The Example of Yalçın Koç. Mebadi Uluslararası Felsefe Dergisi, 1(1), 36–55. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12988475