The Turks' Century-Old-Exam with Philosophy
The Introduction to Philosophy books compiled during the Republican period can be regarded as a projection of the Turkish Republic onto the philosophical stage. Throughout this volatile adventure, the various crisis periods experienced by a Turkish-speaking and thinking mentality as well as its transformative influences in terms of politics, society, culture and religion are also reflected in the texts of Introduction to Philosophy. This study attempts to provide a general evaluation of books published under the title Introduction to Philosophy that were written between 1928-2012, during the Republican Era after the Turkish Alphabet was reformed, to use only Latin letters. In this direction, the standardized contents of Introduction to Philosophy (preface and table of contents, section headings, definition of philosophy, its content, its place within the lives of individuals, its subtitles) have been analyzed through a review of over a hundred compilations-translations. This accumulation, that has been shaped through various stages of republican history, has been classified chronologically under four periods and in terms of the variations of the genre under five groupings, each providing specific examples.
İSHAK ARSLAN
