«Турецкий идеал» в философии Зии Гёкальпа

Abstract

Topic: The philosophy and views on the process of nation building of Ziya Gökalp – the revolutionary ideologist of Turkish nationalism and one of the founding fathers of Kemalism, who played a key role in the articulation of Turkish national identity in the early 20th century. It is hard to overestimate his impact on Mustafa Kemal Atatürk: the founder of the Turkish Republic described Gökalp as the “father of my thoughts”. Gökalp’s ideas come together in the concept of the “Turkish ideal” or “mefkure” (Turk. mefkûre). The principle of “mefkure” was subsequently adopted by the majority of nationalist thinkers. Methodology: Contextual analysis of sources on the research topic; historical comparativism; synthesis and generalization of factual material. Results of the study: Ziya Gökalp’s ideas were focused on the transition from the multinational Ottoman state to a national state and the promulgation of the Turkish Republic. They were largely derived from the philosophy of Émile Durkheim, including idealist epistemology, positivist methodology and solidarist corporatism - together known as positivist idealism. Gökalp’s ideas can be summarized as cultural Turkism, ethical Islamism and Durkheimian solidarism. Gökalp succeeded in synthesizing different philosophical approaches, while avoiding eclectic mixing of ideas. Conclusions: Gökalp’s nationalism was heavily influenced by the West, though he tried to withstand this influence. The romantic principle of the “Turkish ideal” largely reiterates the concept of Volksgeist (German: “spirit of the people”) characteristic of German nationalism. Gökalp’s works clearly illustrate one of the key internal problems of Turkish nationalism – the question of how to restore national self-respect, which had been undermined by the prolonged decline of the Ottoman state and its stature in the eyes of the West. Gökalp’s philosophy clearly links the Young Turk ideology with the Atatürk regime. But in the course of his life, Gökalp’s views underwent significant changes, as he gradually turned away from the principles of the 1908-1909 revolution (constitutional monarchy, Ottomanism, Islamic reformism etc.) and laid the theoretical foundations of Kemalism and the modern Turkish state.