Turkish and philosophy

Turks, Ottoman, Republic, Atatürk and today

Can science and science be done without philosophy? In this research article, we will try to find answers to these questions. In this expression, I greet the people who have spent a lifetime in the originalization of the Turkish language and philosophy, with the deepest respect and love. Only Turkish words have been used in the writing of this article. A great deal of dedication and effort has been put into this situation. I hope you will have the opportunity to test your Turkish and vocabulary with this article. The relationship between philosophy and language is a direct one. In its adventure of about 2500 years, philosophy has always been made in a certain language and has followed a certain development line within the framework of the possibilities of that language... In this sense, philosophy is an intellectual activity that can only be done within the expression and meaning repertoire of a certain language that will make philosophy possible. The languages ​​that have privileged philosophy throughout its history are also languages ​​that have affirmed themselves and their cultural dominance to the rest of the world, and languages ​​that have established their philosophical language. In this sense, if Turkish wants to be an active language and a language of philosophy, it must first establish its own linguistic integrity and have it approved by other languages. The first steps required for this were taken with the acceptance of the republic. Atatürk saw this at that time and went on the subject.

So, in order to describe the development of the Turkish language of philosophy, it is necessary to briefly describe the movement of self-identification (movement) in the Republic of Turkey before and after it.

The effects and sociology of Islam on Turkish language and philosophy:

It can be said that Turkish has entered a period of decline and deterioration under the influence of Islam. The most important reason for this is that Turkish has completely moved away from being a written language with Islam... Although Karamanoğulları Beyi Mehmet Bey accepted Turkish as the official language, but this was a very weak effort. In addition to this, some thinkers also defended Turkish.

For example, XI. In Dîvânü Lûgati't-Türk, written by Kaşgarlı Mahmud in the 19th century, he aimed to introduce the Turkish language and teach it to those who do not know, and showed the breadth and wealth of the Turkish language with this dictionary. XV again. Ali Şîr Nevaî, who stated the superiority of Turkish in the 19th century, showed the superiority of Turkish over Persian with examples in his work called Muhâkemetü'l Lûgateyn. Despite these thinkers, Turkish has been under the influence of Arabic and Persian for a long time, and a mixed language called Ottoman Turkish, which only a certain group can speak and write, has been used. In fact, the Ottoman idiom was a new usage contrary to popular belief. Ottoman Turkish is one of the idioms introduced by the Tanzimat. Tanzimatists, who coined the phrase "Millet-i Osmaniye" in order to establish political unity, called the Turkish spoken and written in the Ottoman country Ottoman Turkish. In the Tanzimat and Meşrutiyet era, some efforts can be observed regarding the self-association movement of Turkish. However, in these efforts, the idea of ​​making the language of philosophy and science with Turkish words is not seen yet. As a result of the westernization movements in the Ottoman Empire, Turkish came under the influence of western languages ​​at this time. As a result of the political relationship with Europe, foreign words gradually began to enter our language. With westernization, many of the terms that require expertise were taken from western languages. This time, the way of Turkish being the language of science and philosophy was closed due to the westernist understanding, and this situation continued until the proclamation of the Republic.

Republican Period:

With the proclamation of the Republic, some changes were made that paved the way for the development of Turkish. The first of these is the letter revolution. With the adoption of the Latin letters by the Parliament, Turkish became the written language.

The alphabet revolution also necessitated the preparation of a new dictionary with these letters.

Two points will be considered in this dictionary: First, to draw the boundaries of the language and reveal the vocabulary; the second is to find Turkish equivalents for foreign words that do not fit our language and writing. In order to fulfill this duty, Atatürk himself established the Turkish Language Investigation Society in 1932, as a wife to the Turkish History Society. The first language convention, attended by Atatürk himself, was held at the Dolmabahçe Palace in the same year. As a result of this congress, it was decided to find Turkish equivalents of terms and prepare dictionaries for fields that require expertise. It can be said that; This is the first basic step in the establishment of a Turkish language of philosophy. During the next period, within the framework of the activities of this community, which took the name "Turkish Language Institution", Turkish gradually began to be purified from foreign words. Of course, there are some mistakes made in these activities. But thanks to this institution, which has undertaken all these mistakes due to an urgent need, it is now possible to think and write in Turkish.

Turkish Language Institution and Philosophy:

Along with other fields, studies on the Turkishization of the language of philosophy have accelerated. Some ways have been followed for this:

• To take advantage of our dead attachments, which are considered inefficient or out of place.
• Making compound words where suffixes are insufficient.
• Finally, to term the meaning of a word by expanding, narrowing, or shifting it.

The Turkish Language Institution used to carry out its activities within its own structure. These studies were mostly in the form of word compilation studies. The studies on the terminology of the words used in philosophy were started before the Language Congress convened by the Turkish Language Association in 1942. Professors from universities were also invited to this congress and their thoughts on new terms were taken.

One of those invited to this congress was Macit Gökberk. Macit Gökberk, who attended the first language congress while still a student, was in Germany to continue his education during the years when the work of the Turkish Language Association was intensified. Gökberk, who was an Associate Professor at Istanbul University during the convention in 1942, says that he was disappointed when his hopes did not come true when he went to this convention. Gökberk and the other professors only approved the decisions taken in this meeting, where they were in the position of spectators.

Macit Gökberk and Turkish Language:

Gökberk, who wholeheartedly believes in the Turkish enlightenment movement, is a scientist who is equally committed to the values ​​of enlightenment. For Gökberk, the two most important basic achievements of enlightenment are “Individualism” and “Nationalism”. Gökberk thinks that both are related to language. According to Gökberk, we have to focus on, look at and mature our language that expresses our national personality. In this sense, the important thing for Gökberk, who thinks that language does not have a life independent of those who use it, is to strive for the development of language. Gökberk establishes a relationship between language and root. Language carries a race within itself, and race is an indicator of the development of that language. Gökberk talks about three main features of language: First of all, language is a three-dimensional structure that has a physical aspect, a semantic aspect, and a spiritual aspect. Second, language is a supra-individual construct. Where language attains the highest power over the individual, it also develops the individual's creativity. Finally, in Gökberk's understanding of language, there is not a single language, there are various national languages; there is no universal language, everyone speaks their own mother tongue, uses their own mother tongue... Therefore, the development of mother tongue is very important for Gökberk. In his interview with Arslan Kaynardağ, in his answer to a question about the condensation of Turkish; After saying that philosophy cannot be done in Ottoman Turkish, he points out how we achieved a more philosophical expression and simplicity with the new language, citing Nermi Uygur as an example. For Gökberk, self-identification in language has played an extremely decisive role in the development of philosophy in Turkey. The logical features of Turkish emerge better after the concepts are Turkish.

Bedia Stream and Philosophy Language:

Another philosopher who had an important role in the development of the Turkish language of philosophy is Bedia Akarsu. According to Akarsu, two environments are necessary for the formation of philosophy: the development of the language and freedom. These two are closely interconnected. According to Akarsu, a thought becomes clear in itself and can be understood by others only when it is expressed in sentences. Therefore, the clearer and more useful the words are, the more comfortable it is to think. For this reason, the thinking person must be free and independent. Akarsu thinks that this freedom and independence can be realized if the mother tongue of the person is conducive to thinking. A complex and undeveloped language also prevents thinking. The inhibition of thinking is also the inhibition of philosophy. According to Akarsu, it is clear that a nation whose language, which establishes a connection with the world, is prevented from developing internally, cannot achieve success in the field of philosophy based on thinking.

Between 1950-1976 in Turkish Philosophy:

The Turkish language of philosophy, which developed with the cooperation of the Istanbul Philosophy Department and the Turkish Language Institution, was interrupted in the 1950s due to the country's administration at that time, but it continued to develop again with the 1960s. Istanbul University Philosophy Department played an active role. Macit Gökberk was also the president of the Turkish Language Association from 1960 to 1976. During this process, the term dictionaries were rearranged and, as said, Bedia Akarsu published the Dictionary of Philosophy Terms. This dictionary, which was published many times later, has a competence that has not been exceeded even now in this field.

Nermi Uygur: One of the Building Blocks of Turkish Philosophy

Many people can be mentioned about the development of the Turkish language of philosophy, but Nermi Uygur has a special place among them. We can even call Nermi Uygur a Turkish language warrior, who contributed to the development and competence of not only the Turkish language of philosophy, but also Turkish essayism. For Nermi Uygur, the state, course and development of philosophy in a country depends on the language in which that philosophy emerged.

Philosophy, by its essence, expresses itself in language. In this sense, "Turkish Philosophy" is the philosophy that manifests itself in Turkish, Turkish and Turkish. As Arslan Kaynardağ stated in his interview with him; He has written in Turkish willingly, with taste and consciousness from the very beginning. As a writer, as a thinker, there is no Ottoman period. In this sense, it is like a duty for Nermi Uygur, for everyone who practices and is interested in philosophy in this country, to carefully study Turkish. For Uyghurs, Turkish is an element of thought, its founder, and in this respect, it is not added to the thought afterwards, it is what constitutes the thought. So, in philosophy, thought is contemporaneous with Turkish, with Turkish thought.

Using Turkish in Philosophy According to Uygur:

According to Nermi Uygur, Turkish philosophy with all its dimensions, in a way, is Turkish. The development of philosophy is internally attached to the development of Turkish, it is in parallel with this development. As Betül Çotuksöken stated in the language section of the book she wrote about Nermi Uygur, Uyghur enters philosophy from language and to a large extent from the culture in the language. Again, according to Çotuksöken, it will be necessary to distinguish two aspects in his approach to language: on the one hand, language cannot be separated from thinking as a condition of existence; On the other hand, language is also functional. At this point, Uyghur speaks of language consciousness. For Uyghurs, this language awareness is an important factor in the relationship with one's native language.

For Uyghur, one of the most important criteria of the philosophical development of a language is to show the distinctions between philosophical concepts in the best way. In many ways, language mirrors philosophy; Philosophy is reflected in the language with all its quality. For Uyghurs, the language of philosophy is an analytical language of description. What kneads this language is the expert behavior in finding and grasping the facts it takes as a subject. The progress of philosophy is nothing but the ability of this language to fulfill more and more completely the philosophical task of knowing. Every philosophy reveals itself in its language with its fragmentary nature and other qualities attached to this quality. In this sense, our duty is; It is to make Turkish reach a competence that can meet just such requirements. Uygur is one of the most important Turkish thinkers who determined the way for us to go on this road.

Uygur has made these contributions to the development of the Turkish language thanks to his commitment and belief in his native language. When language is mentioned for Nermi Uygur, it is necessary to understand the mother tongue one by one. We can achieve the goal necessary for the development of the Uighur native language by redecorating philosophy, science and literature, which are the achievements of modern civilization, which is not only an accumulation of the West, but also the whole world, with Turkish. In this respect, the Uyghur likens language to a friend, and respect for language is respect for a friend. Most misunderstandings are the result of people's wish to deceive or the habit of unsupervised adoption. "Disrespect to a friend diminishes the value of the disrespectful more than the friend," he says.

How Important Is Language?

Nermi Uygur quotes how important language is:

“They asked Confucius one day: 'If all the government of a nation was left to you, what would you do first?'

Confucius replied: 'I will correct the language first. As proof, he said: 'When the language is not correct, what is said is not what is meant; when what is said is not what is meant to be said, what should be done remains undone; When what needs to be done is not done, customs and art regress; when mores and art decline, justice goes astray; When justice goes astray, the people remain in despair. That is why what needs to be said cannot be left unattended. This is paramount.”

So, for Nermi Uygur, a society whose language has disappeared is facing extinction. Uyghur also established a connection between language and translation. For the Uyghur, every language is a translation of what it expresses. Language is the sum of what you translate. Every language translation is a possibility of orientation to existence. We can recognize what we translate into language. What Uyghur understands from the translation here is the expression of the existing in a language. It is positioned in the language. Uygur mentioned the idea of ​​a single language in many parts of his writings, but he stated that the important thing is not the dominance of a single language, but rather the wealth of existing languages. He explained this thought with the Babylonian myth. According to Nermi Uygur, the true aspect of this Babylonian myth is that it reveals one of the most sincere longings in human beings. It is the deal that one passionately desires. In this respect, all languages ​​try to satisfy this basic longing. According to Nermi Uygur, every language is the environment in which a certain encounter takes place. This encounter is different in every language. Every language expresses the universe in its own way. Each language's linguistic formation of the universe is different from that of the other. The universe is reflected in every language in that language. For Uyghurs, each language is the result of a unique human-universe encounter, unique to that language, in terms of its singular pronunciation and grouping rules, despite the many resemblances and therefore the possibilities of translation.

Purification of Language and Purifiers:

As it has been said, according to Nermi Uygur, every language has a philosophy; a certain philosophy is excluded in every language; each language brings its own philosophy; Every language requires a philosophy. Philosophy in language is in a way a worldview. A world view of a language, the interpretation of that language's world, the organization and organization of the world in that language and in that language is the form that the world assumes by the speakers of that language.

Nermi Uygur is also in favor of the purification of the Turkish language from foreign words. Those who perform this task are called purifiers. The purifiers he is talking about are against the language being left unattended, against opening the doors of a language to random breezes from a foreign language, and against the language being damaged by these breezes. The strength of such thinking people is their respect for the light in thinking. In this respect, for Nermi Uygur, the purifiers of a language are the intellectuals of that language. In this respect, they should not be confused with the so-called intellectuals who are hostile to language. For Nermi Uygur, it is the work of the best minds to both refine and enrich the mother tongue; de-enrichment often turns out to be folly; because there is nothing easier than giving up the content and paying attention to the narration. So a properly applied refinement of language is a necessary condition for language. Uygur saw the development of Turkish philosophy in parallel with the development of Turkish and made significant efforts to this end.

Uygur showed the same sensitivity not only in his philosophical writings, but also in other literary writings and essays, without forcing himself. As we have mentioned before, philosophy is an activity carried out within the possibilities of each language, and the ultimate responsibility for realizing these possibilities falls to those who use that language. If we do not believe in our own language and that it is possible to philosophize in that language, we will have eliminated this possibility from the very beginning. However, Turkish philosophers such as Uygur have clearly shown that; Turkish is a language prone to philosophizing. The important thing is to know the possibilities of expression of this language and to spread it to all intellectual fields. For this reason, philosophy cannot develop in a country whose literature is not developed, and science cannot develop in a country whose philosophy is not developed. Our bright future is the Turkish philosophers who clearly show us this path and enable us to proceed on this path more confidently. As Uyghur saw and conveyed while in Germany, one's mother tongue is the only language in which he understands life. The effects that fill this language with things that it does not have and make it impossible to think are the most important obstacles in front of a Turkish language of philosophy.

Conclusion:

Language is the essence of a nation. It will continue as the most important and unchanging foundation of every national community, from the present to the eternal future, as it has been from the beginning to the present. There is no nation that does not have a language. If a nation has lost its language for one reason or another, that nation has disappeared as a community. In the history of humanity, there is no nation that has lost its language. But although the nations have disappeared, there are still many ancient languages ​​that stand out.

Language is the history of a nation. Because language developed in and with a national community, it naturally preserves the history of that nation for thousands of years. The living monument that preserves the views, feelings and ideas adopted by a nation in various periods of history is the language of that nation. There can be doubts and doubts about the belonging of any work of art or any artist to this or that nation. But a work written in Turkish is undoubtedly the work of the Turkish nation. Even the slightest expression in Turkish is a precious property of the Turkish nation. Language is the only entity that carries within itself the greatest power that will take it to eternity, just as it hides the entire past of a nation. Wherever we have a Turkish speaking brother, greetings to them.

The Turkish language is the heart and mind of the Turkish nation.

References:

LEVEND Agah Sırrı, Türk Dilinde Gelişme ve Sadeleşme Evreleri, Ankara, Türk Dil Kurumu Yayınları, 1960

GÖKBERK Macit, Değişen Dünya Değişen Dil, İstanbul, Yapı Kredi Yayınları, 2004

AĞAKAY Mehmet Ali, Türkçe Felsefe Terimlerinin Dil Bakımından Açıklanması Dolayısıyla Bazı Kelime Yapı Yolları, İstanbul, Türk Dil Durumu Yayınları, 1943

Derleyenler, YÜCEL Tahsin, AKARSU Bedia, Macit Gökberk Armağanı, Ankara, Türk Dil Kurumu yayınları, 1983

KAYNARDAĞ Arslan, Felsefecilerle Söyleşiler, İstanbul, Elif Yayınevi, 1985

AKARSU Bedia, Felsefe Terimleri Sözlüğü, İstanbul, Remzi Yayınevi, 1987

ÇOTUKSÖKEN Betül, Nermi Uygur’un Felsefe Dünyasından Kesitler, İstanbul, Kabalcı Yayınevi, 1995

UYGUR Nermi, Kültür Kuramı, İstanbul, Remzi Kitabevi, 1984

UYGUR Nermi, Felsefenin Çağrısı, İstanbul, Yapı Kredi Yayınları, 2001

UYGUR Nermi, Türk Felsefesinin Boyutları, Yapı Kredi Yayınları, İstanbul, 2002

UYGUR Nermi, Dilin Gücü, İstanbul, Yapı Kredi Yayınları, 2005