The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of euthanasia education on the opinions of health sciences students. It was performed among 111 final year students at the College of Health Sciences, Dokuz Eylül University, IRzmir, Turkey. These students train to become paramedical professionals and health technicians. Fifteen hours of educational training concerning ethical values and euthanasia was planned and the students’ opinions about euthanasia were sought before and after the course. Statistical analyses of the data were performed (...) with the related samples t -test by means of the Epi-Info program. Significant changes were shown in the students’ opinions on people’s right to decide about their own life, euthanasia in unconscious patients, and reasons for their objection to euthanasia after completing the course. The results of this study suggest that education can significantly change a person’s approach to euthanasia. (shrink)

The current qualitative study explores women’s conceptions of the normative family and their day-to-day family lives. To that aim, we conducted five focus group interviews in two low-income neighborhoods of Istanbul. The sample included 43 women who had at least one child between ages 3 and 8 in their care. Participants were 35.64 years old on average and were all married. Women had approximately two children whose mean age was 7.92 years old. Each focus group was semi-structured, lasted for 1–1.5 (...) h, and included 5–12 participants. Thematic analysis of the focus group interview data, moderator memos, and observer’s notes revealed five defining features of healthy family functioning: cohesion, healthy child, parenting, conflict, control, and family organization. Overall, women prioritized motherhood over their other social identities and idealized the happy family, which contradicted their actual lived experiences in the family system. We discuss how women’s depictions of all family processes revolved around cultural constructs of gender, socio-economic status, and independence/interdependence. The findings of this study shed light on future interventions for low-income women and their families in Turkey. (shrink)

Spandrel or Fitrah? An Essay on the Relationship Between Cognitive Science of Religion and Fitrah.

Fitzpatrick’s writing on international law did not constitute the main focus of his oeuvre. However, the determinate-responsive nature of law that characterised so much of his work did extend to an analysis of the generative force of international law. This article picks up on commentary from Modernism and the Grounds of Law (2001) and ‘Latin Roots’ (2010), among other contributions, to test this generative force of international law, which Fitzpatrick identifies as a necessary affirmation of the movement between the ‘determinate (...) but not ultimately determinate’ sovereignty of a singular nation state and the ‘illimitably responsive but not ultimately responsive’ force of the community (Fitzpatrick 2010, p. 46). We test Fitzpatrick’s view of international law through two examples of un-recognised states and the mechanism of non/recognition utilised by the international legal community to determine what constitutes a singular nation-state for participation in the community of international law. Our two case studies, North Cyprus and Crimea, illuminate the continuing relevance of Fitzpatrick’s schema. Through non/recognition, ‘states’ that are included-as-excluded participate in the ongoing affirmation of an international legal ‘community’, a community that continues to be constituted through the affirmation of imperial power. (shrink)

One of the proofs expressing certain knowledge in fiqh method is ijma. There are hardly any scholars who do not accept that ijma is evidence. It is reported that the first person who objected to this was Mu'tazilî İbrahim en-Nazam. The group that does not accept it as a sect are the scholars who belong to the Imamiyya. It is possible to say that mujtahid scholars have been unanimous since the first period mujtahids on the fact that ijmā is evidence, (...) with a few exceptions. Although there is no significant disagreement about the fact that ijma is evidence, the scholars differed on the details of ijma's types, conditions, proofs, and the number of people who would agree on ijma. One of the issues discussed by the scholars of the methodology is the effect of ijmaa when one or more people oppose the majority of the mujtahids. While some of the methodists think that the opposition of the minority against the alliance of the majority will not harm the ijma, the majority of them argue that all mujtahids must be of the same opinion in order for the ijma to be formed. Basically, it can be said that these two approaches argue with each other, but there are also proceduralists who deal with the issue differently. Some scholars take into account the attitude of the majority towards them in an issue opposed by one or a few people. According to these scholars, if the majority does not oppose the opinion of the minority, then ijma cannot be mentioned. Because this shows that the majority also respect the opposing view. If the majority does not respect or even oppose the opinion of the minority, then the consensus of the majority becomes ijma.The arguments generally used in these discussions are the same. Usulists defend their theses based on the opposing views of some of the Companions, especially Ibn Abbas. Those who do not see the opposition of the minority as an obstacle to ijma, argue that although one or more of the Companions had dissenting views, as in the example of Ibn Abbas on riba and mut'a, the consensus of the other Companions is the ijma of the scholars. Likewise, those who argue that this is an obstacle to ijma, as well as Ibn 'Abbas's opposition to the opinion of the populace on awl, was an obstacle to the formation of ijma on an issue agreed by the other Companions.This study deals with the discussions and the arguments used by the parties. However, firstly, the information value and conditions of ijma, which is thought to be closely related to these discussions, are briefly presented. In the study, the explanations of the scholars of different sects, who were not content with the works of a certain school, were examined and tried to be evaluated. As a result, it should be noted that it is the prevailing view that the opposition of the minority against the majority will prevent the formation of ijma, based on the conditions put forward in order for ijma to be conclusive evidence. However, it has come to the conclusion that whether the opposing view of the minority is taken into account by other scholars is effective in the formation of ijma. (shrink)

Hypochondrisch Kranke fühlen sich fremd im eigenen Körper und entwickeln mitunter ein gegnerisch anmutendes Verhältnis zu ihm. Diese intrapsychische Dynamik kann sich auf interpersoneller Ebene in Form von Zweifeln und Misstrauen gegenüber dem therapeutischen Prozess und dem Therapeuten abbilden: Die unkorrigierbar wirkenden hypochondrischen Körperklagen können schwer erträgliche Gegenübertragungsreaktionen auslösen und so die therapeutische Beziehung gefährden. Psychodynamische Überlegungen verweisen im Kern auf das ambivalent besetzte Bedürfnis, Bindung und Zuwendung zugleich sowohl einfordern als auch verweigern zu müssen. Fallbeispiele illustrieren die wesentlichen Merkmale (...) der hypochondrischen Übertragungs-Gegenübertragungs-Dynamik; aus der Untersuchung werden behandlungstechnische Folgerungen abgeleitet. (shrink)

Hegel düşüncesinde Fenomenoloji, Bilincin kendi tarihini ortaya koyar. Bu süreç esasen Bilincin kendi gerçekliğini Tin’de bulmasıyla bu sefer gerçekten Tinin Fenomenolojisine dönüşür. Bu da Akıl bölümü sonrasında bilincin kendi gerçekliğini var olduğu toplumda bulmasıyla ortaya çıkar. Akıl bu süreçte modern çağın tarih dışı aklının ifadesi olarak ortaya çıkarken kendi bilme sürecinin de zeminini en sonunda toplumsallıkta bulur. Akıl bu haliyle bilmenin koşullarının ne olduğuna dair bir sonuç elde eder. Bireyselliği Tinin karşısında dağılır gibi olmuştur. Bu esasen modern toplumsallığın tekrar oluşturulmasıdır. (...) Bu Tözün aynı zamanda özne olarak görülmesi gerektiği düşüncesinin ortaya konmasıdır. Modern bireysellik ve toplum burada iç içe ve beraberdir. Hegel’in Tinin Fenomenolojisi bu durumda aynı zamanda Kantçı ve Fichteci felsefi pozisyonların tinsel düzlemde tekrar kurgulanmasıdır. Bu bir bakıma inşacı bir düşünce sistemi demektir. Hegel’de Tin Kantçı ve Fichteci inşacı düşüncelerin tekrar kurgulandığı yerdir. (shrink)

In the post-Single European Act period, debates around European identity have intensified, particularly in the context of EU enlargement. The EU’s move to being a supranational political entity in the past two decades has caused serious concerns in some sections of the elite and people across the EU member states. While French and Dutch rejections of the constitutional treaty set an important milestone, Turkey’s quest for the EU membership has complicated to a great extent controversies on European identity. The reviewed (...) books here contribute to efforts to understand the extent to which European identity and Turkey’s bid for the EU membership has entangled. It is more likely to witness debates around both European identity and Turkey’s candidacy for the Union for many years to come; therefore, these books will more likely remain relevant for the academic and policy circles. (shrink)

Can we argue that pressures generated from grassroots politics are responsible for the rapid expansion and ethnically/racially uneven distribution of social assistance programs in emerging economies? This article analyzes the Turkish case and shows that social assistance programs in Turkey are directed disproportionately to the Kurdish minority and to the Kurdish region of Turkey, especially to the internally displaced Kurds in urban and metropolitan areas. The article analyzes a cross-sectional dataset generated by a 10,386-informant stratified random sampling survey and controls (...) for possibly intervening socioeconomic factors and neighborhood-level fixed-effects. The results show that high ethnic disparity in social assistance is not due to higher poverty among Kurds. Rather, Kurdish ethnic identity is the main determinant of the access to social assistance. This result yields substantive support to argue that the Turkish government uses social assistance to contain the Kurdish unrest in Turkey. The Turkish government seems to give social assistance not simply where the people become poor, but where the poor become politicized. This provides support for Fox Piven and Cloward’s thesis that relief for the poor is driven by social unrest, rather than social need. The article concludes that similar hypotheses may hold true for other emerging economies, where similar types of social assistance programs have recently expanded significantly and have been directed to ethnic/racial groups. (shrink)

The question of how the relationship between metaphysics and theology should be understood is one of the main topics of debate on the agenda of philosophers and theologians from Aristotle (d. 322 BCE) to Avicenna (d. 428/1037), from Avicenna to the late Islamic theological tradition, and even to medieval Jewish and Christian thought. Avicenna criticized Aristotle for identifying metaphysics with theology and presented a new perspective on the relationship between those two disciplines. He argues that God is not the subject (...) but the goal of metaphysics, in other words — metaphysics is an ontological science in terms of its subject matter and a theological science in terms of its goal. In Islamic thought after Avicenna, the relationship between metaphysics and kalam continued to be one of the most heated topics of debate. Trying to explain the relationship between those two disciplines, thinkers such as Imam al-Ghazali (d. 505/1111), Shams al-Din Samarqandi (d. 702/1303), and Sayyid Sharif al-Jurjani (d. 816/1413) made a distinction between “Islamic science and rational science” and argued that metaphysics is an intellectual science while kalam is a religious (Islamic) science. On the other hand, Siraj al-Din al-Urmawi (d. 682/1283), who dealt with the relationship between metaphysics and kalam in his treatise On the Difference between Metaphysics (God-Science) and Kalam, revised Avicenna’s approach and criticized theologians who tried to explain the problem in terms of the distinction between religious and rational sciences. The aim of this article is to analyze Avicenna’s and Urmawi’s views on the relationship between metaphysics and theology, taking into account the historical-problematic context of the issue. (shrink)

Türk İslam düşüncesi, hikmetten felsefeye evrilmiş ve Batı düşüncesinin felsefî yaklaşım ve akımlarıyla Anadolu coğrafyasında tanışmıştır. Kişiler ve toplumlar birtakım problemlerle karşılaşınca bunları öncelikle fikrî olarak çözüme kavuşturmak ister. Osmanlı’nın son dönemlerinde de çözüm üretilmesi gereken siyasi, ekonomik, kültürel birtakım problemler ortaya çıkmıştı. Bu problemlerin çözümü Tanzimat ve Meşrutiyet dönemlerinde farklılıklar gösterseler de çözüm yollarının bilimsel, sosyolojik ve felsefi nitelikler taşıdığı bir gerçekti. Felsefi çözümlemeler Batı temsilcilerinin görüşleri doğrultusunda aydınlanmacılık, pozitivizm, materyalizm, spiritüalizm vb. ile çözüme kavuşturulmak istendi. Cumhuriyet döneminde de (...) yeni bir toplum, millet oluşturmak, bunun varlığını diliyle, diniyle, idealleriyle, kültürü vb. ile sürdürmek genç cumhuriyet için çok büyük bir problemdi. Bu problemlerin çözümü için Tanzimat ve Meşrutiyet dönemi fikir akımları Cumhuriyet dönemine rehberlik etti. Bu farklı çözüm önerilerinden her biri, bizi farklı fikir akımlarıyla tanıştırmış oldu. Bu çalışmada kendi edindiğimiz tecrübeler ve farklı kaynaklardan yararlanarak Cumhuriyet dönemindeki fikri yaklaşımlar ve akımları ele almaya çalıştık. Bunlardan özellikle etki ve kabul görme sırasına göre aydınlanmacılık, pozitivizm, materyalizm, spiritüalizm, sosyal Darwinizm ve analitik felsefe üzerinde durmaya çalıştık. Sadece akademik çalışmalar açısından üzerinde durulanlar arasında yeni ontoloji, fenomenoloji vb. leri burada zikredilebilir. (shrink)