: The Confucian relational concept of the person has been proposed as an epistemically more cogent and ethically more attractive alternative to that of liberal individualism. Two arguments are raised against this proposal without defending liberal individualism. Ethically, Confucianism is vitiated by certain unattractive features that cannot be removed without reducing the Confucian relational concept of the person to an abstract and not very helpful notion of human relatedness. Epistemically, Confucianism commits the essentialist fallacy of treating its own concept of (...) human relations as reflecting the nature of things. In view of these limitations, the Confucian relational concept of the person does not provide a viable framework for dealing with social issues including bioethics. (shrink)

In this book, Jiwei Ci explores the dual nature of justice, in an attempt to make unitary sense of key features of justice reflected in its close relation to ...

This article discusses the issue of arrangement /ordering of compulsory-comprehensive maqāsid. In this respect, the main purpose is to help clarify the ordering problem. To accomplish this task, the classical and contemporary studies on this subject were reviewed. Within the scope of this research, it has been determined that the universal principles are generally listed in the order of religion, nafs, mind, generation and property. However, alternative orderings can be found where the nafs is placed at the forefront. The focal (...) point of the ordering problem is emerges from the question of whether Allah's rights/otherworldly maqāsid should be priorities or servants' rights/worldly maqāsid. The conflict between religion, which is an otherworldly value, and other principles played an active role in this classification of maqāsid. Many legal scholars who placed religion in the first place in the classical period did not clearly explained the justification of their arrangement. Also, many of today's researchers also stated that religion should come first. The scholars who put both the religion and the nafs in the center have listed many evidence for their preference. The legal scholars who put religion at the center have pointed the verse " I have not created the jinn and men but they may worship Me" as the basis for their views. Accordingly, the main purpose of the creation of human being is to serve Allah. Because the most important right to be fulfilled is the right of Allah religion should take precedence over other virtues in maqasid. Religion is also the only essential way that leads to eternal happiness. According to the legal scholars who put religion into the center, other maqasid principles are secondary. Correlatively, other principles serve religion. The hadith "The debt to Allah is more worthy of being paid." has been made the basis. Since religion constitutes the essence of the maqāsid, it is also a requirement of reason to make religion essential. According to another reason they stated, the obligation of jihad also ensures that religion is at the center. The obligation of jihad causes lives to be sacrificed to protect the religion. This means that religion is superior to the nafs and other principles. Because jihad, which is the order of religion, is fard. The scholars who maintain that the rights of the servants should take precedence over the right of Allah have cited also a lot of evidence. We come across with their views presented as a weak view in the sources or as an answer to a possible question. There is no clear information about to whom these views belong. Therefore, it is stated that no one introduces the nafs to religion. As a matter of fact, it is stated that it is not correct to qualify these views as an independent view defended by scholars. In other words, the view putting the nafs at the center and the evidence to this preference at this point should be regarded as hypothetical. We are of the view that these claims of contemporary writers need to be proven. The basic reason of the views that puts the nafs in the center is based on the pre-acceptance that maslahahs like the nafs are the right of servants while religion is the right of Allah. The given reasons can be addressed under three main headings: punishments, mitigation of prayers, and concern with non-Muslims. In case where the rights of the servant and Allah unite, the rights of the servant should be preferred. Because, the rights of servants are on hardship, and the rights of Allah are on breadth and mercy. On the contrary to the rights of the servants, postponing or neglecting the right of Allah will not harm Allah. It is clear that if the rights of the servants face postponement, they will suffer serious damage. The fact that killing a man who both abandoned his religion and killed someone unfairly, not for his departure from religion, but for retaliation, that is, the right of a servant, is a concrete example of this. The shortening of the prayer during the journey, the patient’s abandoning standing in prayer and the fasting, and other examples also require the human to be in the center. Today, there are researchers who take the nafs to the center. The existence of religion for humans and society reflects the view of these researchers. Because it is clear that religion will remain dysfunctional where there is no human and society. When these evidences are examined carefully, it can be concluded that the opinion that defends the nafs to be at the center of comprehensive maqāsid is preferable. (shrink)

Çatı, eylemin özne veya nesneyle ilişkisinin niteliğini açıklayan bir kavramdır. Türkçede çatıya ilişkin kavramlar, özne ve nesne esas alınarak oldukça işlevsel bir biçimde sınıflandırılmıştır. Türkçedeki çatı kavramlarının Arapçadaki karşılıkları ise fiil kalıplarının anlamları başlığı altında yer alır. Bu anlamların ve ilgili kavramların Arapçada kendine özgü bir sistematiği ve mantığı vardır. Anadili Arapça olanlar için bu sistematik, tutarlı ve anlamlı bir yapı arz eder. Ancak anadili Türkçe olanların, Arapçada fiil kalıplarının anlamlarını ve çatı kavramlarını anlama ve anlamlandırmalarına katkı sunacak bir sınıflandırmaya (...) ve yaklaşıma da ihtiyaç vardır. Fiil kalıplarının anlamları çeşitli çalışmalara konu edilmiştir. Ancak çatı kavramları iki dilde karşılaştırılmamıştır. Bu çalışmanın amacı, Arapçadaki çatı kavramlarını, Türkçedeki çatı tasnifi üzerinden sınıflandırarak, onları Türkçeleriyle karşılaştırmaktır. Ayrıca Arapçadaki fiil kalıplarının çatı dışındaki anlam ve işlevlerine, Türkçe dilbilgisi kavramları perspektifinden bir yaklaşım geliştirmektir. Bu çalışmada, Arapçada çatı karşılığında kullanılan bina kavramının, Türkçedeki çatı kavramını da içeren daha geniş bir kavram olduğu, müteaddî teriminin, Türkçedeki geçişli, oldurgan ve ettirgen kavramlarının karşılığı olarak kullanıldığı, dönüşlülük olgusunun ise iki dildeki tarifinin farklı yapıldığı sonucuna ulaşılmıştır. Türkçedeki çatı tasnifinin esas alınarak Arapçadaki çatı kavramlarını sınıflandırmanın Arapça çatı kavramlarını anlama ve anlamlandırma açısından da işlevsel olduğu değerlendirilmektedir. (shrink)

Joseph Chan and Sungmoon Kim take me to task for my understanding and uses of Tocqueville, and because of the resemblance they claim to see between one of my major arguments and modernization theory. I think their charges are mistaken or misplaced. Chan and Kim reject my claims that China is already, in a meaningful sense and to a substantial degree, a democratic society, and that, unless such a society is matched by political democratization, a major legitimation crisis is almost (...) inevitable in the foreseeable future. I try to show that they are wrong in their assessment of the state of Chinese society and in their dismissal of the crisis tendencies that only timely democratization can help avert. Chan and Kim completely misconstrue what my prudential argument for democracy in China means, and what it does not, and I explain why. Finally, I reaffirm, over Chan’s objections, the view that the fundamental choice regarding political legitimacy in China today lies between the Mandate of Heaven and democracy, given the demise of communism, and I restate this view in terms of the concept of sovereignty. (shrink)