Bedri MERMUTLU* Multi-Perception of the Enlightenment Thinking in Nineteenth Century Turkey Abstrac t It could be observed from the early 19th century that a new perspective began to form gradua lly in the pol itical life of the Ottomans on political- legal basis. T his change that was conscio usly initiated by Mahmud ll proved to be decisive with the declaration of the Imperial Edic t of Reforms. Fallawing the statesmen 's approach to the Enlightenment State Philosophy and fro m the second ha lf of the 19th century onwards views began to be deve loped by intellectuals in this d irectian as well. As a matter of fact, beginning with Şinasi , Ali Suavi, Namık Kemal, M unif Pasha and Ahmed M idhat Effendi are of the leading fıgures that developed the Enlightenment Mavement in Turkey. O n the other hand, although the aforesaid names united on the same basis, they approached the Enlightenment Thinking in different methods and contexts. Key Terms Enl ightenment, Natural Law, Education, Şinasi , Namık Kemal, M unif Pasha. Ondokuzuncu Yüzyıl Türkiyesinde Aydınlanma Düşüncesinin Çoklu İdraki Özet 19. yüzyılın başlanndan itibaren Osmanlı siyasi hayatında adım adım siyasi-hukuki temelde yeni bir perspektifin oluşmaya başladığı gözlenebilir. II. Mahmud ' un b ilinçli bir gir i şimle başlattığı bu dönüşüm Tanzimat Fermanının i lanıyla kararlılığını göstermi şt i r. Devlet adamla- rının aydınlanmacı devlet fe lsefesine yaklaşınalarının ardından ve 19. yüzyı lın ikinci yarısından itibaren aydın kesimde de bu yönde görüşlerin Asst. Prof.Dr. at Uludağ University Faculty of Science and Literature Department of Sociology. Multi-Perception of the Enlightenment Thinking in Nineteenth Century Turkey 170 \ııUt. KUY2t 2008/10 geliştiği görülmeye başlar. Şinasi'den başl~yarak Ali _Süa_:"i, _N ~mı~ Kemal, Z iya Paşa, M ünif Paşa, Ahmed Mıdhat Efendı Turkıye dekı aydınlanma hareketi ni geliştiren başlıca isimlerd ir. Anca~ bu ıs ~ _mler aynı temelde birleşmiş olsalar b ile Aydınlanma düşüncesı ne yontem ve kapsam o larak farklı şekillerde yaklaşmışlard ır. Anahtar Terimler Aydınlanma , Tabii Hukuk, Eğitim, Tanzimat Reformları , Ş inasi , Namık Kemal, Münif Paşa. State, church, superstitions, oppression, illiteracy, ete. were such institutions and concepts as started among the conditions that prepared the Western bourgeoisie in the Iate l71h century and continued during the l 81h century against which the Enlightenm~nı Movement struggled. The intellect, science and progression were the essential dynamıcs of that thinking white the rights for life, freedom and proprietorship were of the indispensable values praised by that think.ing. If the enlighte11ment thought had not played the historic role in the 1789 Revolution as the ideological amrnunition of the new class, it would no t have been remembered with nothing but the thinking exercise that take place among the popular philosophy texts . Nevertheless, the enlightenment thinking foresaw the total social movement and - although it is not said that it created its own class from where it took frontiers- managed to meet its own class successfully and realized its thoughts step by step thus having become one of the strongest social engineering event that has been recognized by history after the religions. Even if the Ottoman society's or State's social and cultural relations with the West date back to early 181h century, these relationships did no t have much significance even at the time. It was after the French Revolution that the Western assault upon us went beyand military frontiers and began to invade institutions, values, in short the whole life (Mermutlu, 2003, 13). The nationalisı and separatist movements provoked by the French Revolution first exerted its effect on the Christian subjects with such results as Kara Yorgi Rebellion ( 1803), Mora Rebellion ( 182 1), the Independence of Greece (1 829), the expansion of the independence of Walachia and Moldova Principaliıies, Serbia's becoming an independent principality, ete . (Okandan, 1940, 10). In the meantime, the French Revolution had no serious intellectual impact on the Ottomans for a long time, for it was contemplated as an internal affair of France. The reigning era of Sultan Selim III was an era wherein the belief was prevalent that eco~omic and_ industrial enterprises in addition to military e nterprises would sufficiently fortıfy us agaınst the West, which could be observed quite clearl y ina report written by Halet Effendi to the Sult~n : "The who le capital of Europeans is but words ... God knows, but I think if we happen ~o earn about twenty-five thousand akçes from some occurrences ın three to fo ur years and establish fi ve factories that manufacture paper, glass, clo th and porcelain as well as a school where Multi-Perception of the Enlightenment Thinking in Nineteenth Century Turkey languages and geographical sciences sha ll be taught, they shall have naught to Jean against" (Karai , 1940, 33). This attitude of recovering the technical and economic defıcit against Europe (Mermutlu, 2003, 304) was going to begin to be replaced during the reign of Sultan Mahmoud II by a Western perception that had gone through the Enlightenment Thinking. The era of Sultan Mahmoud lı was the last period for us to dream of universal sovereignty. In fact, the Ottomans never forgot that they were a mili tary nation even at the times when they were continuously defeated. The directions and attempts for reforms, the centacts and re lations with Europe all were based upon military reasons. The real critica! thinking started when military allegations stopped (Mermutlu, 2003, 336). When Sultan Mahmud II told Reshid Effendi (Pasha), "I mobilize three hundred thousand soldiers and defeat Europe", Reshid Effendi replied, "You cannot defeat Europe even if you mobilize three hundred million soldiers; you have to protect people's li ves, properties and chastity in conformity to the orders of the Religion so that you can hinder Europe and draw people 's respect" (A. Adil, 1338, 19). It is thought that Reshid Effendi was in the same opinion as Lord Canning, an eminent name of the British foreign affairs over the same issues (Kaynar, 1985 , 164). This reform movement whereby it is understood that the relationships with the West took their political-Iegal form during the reign of Sultan Mahmoud Il and which was offıcially announced in 1839 with the Imperial Edict of Reforms w.as resembled by Na mı k Kemal to the French Revolution and interpreted as such a signifıcant event of transformatian to be called 'our revolutionary era' (N. Kemal, Hadiqah, No. 14) . The fact that Declaration of Human Rights that had been accepted by the French Revolution was taken as an example in the Imperial Edi ct of Reforms suffıced that it be perceived as a revolutio n. However, it is to be accepted after the changes in the West had been defınitely realized by the State - that although a series of reforms applied by Sultan Mahmoud II in order to compensate for our defıcit with the West had formed the bases for Tanzimah, which was a legal reform (and gave i ts name to an age), they were much more superior in power and effect (Üiken, 1966, 32). As a matter of fact, the following words utte red by Sultan Mahmoud II on the day when he abolished the institution of Janissaries were almost in the form o f a manifesto: "I wish that the Sultanate shall be an occasion of support for the nation not for terror. I lift seizure and confıscation. I even wish that the property of rebels be inherited by their children" (Birand, 1998, 20). Hugo Grotius, of the pio neers of the Movement of Enlightt:nment, and later John Locke studied the doctrine of Natural Laws and stated that the ra is on d 'etre of the S ta te was to protect these natural rights that emerged from the quintescence humankind. According to Grotius and Locke, the State is not a means of might and oppression but- to the contrary - the power generated for the protection of the rights and freedem of individuals. Actually, this philosophy of state had developed withi n the Enlightenment Thinking ever since Renaissance and thereby found a sound niche for itself (Birand, 1998, 16- 18). Even though it was with the influence of internal and external forces, it was witnessed - beginning with Sultan Mahmoud II - that the sensitivity as regards to natural rights begao to be expressed by the senio r administrators, including sultans, on Multi-Perception of the Enlightenment Thinking in Nineteenth Century Turkey every occasion. For example, in his enthroneme nt speech andanother speech in May 1868, Sultan Abdulaziz expressed that the might and longevıty of a state would be possible onl y through a bsolute pursuit of the levied legisla tio n .:. and". .. the task o~ a oovernment is to pro tect the freedam legislatio n of his people ın any case and that ııs =dministratio n over people must not be by means of tyranny and oppression." Again, institutional structuring was attempted after the promulgation of Ta nzimah and wi th the foundation o f M ajlis Al-Ahqam Al-Adl iyyah in 1840, an institution was es tablished tha t would quite tessen the burden o f the current political system and that would functio n in such manner as would resemb le the parliamentary regime (Okandan, 1940, 118). Not suffıcing therewith. Shurah Al-Dawlah was founded in I 868 and wherewith it is possible to see that the princ iple of the Separation of Powers was approached as well. On the o ther hand , the Imperial Edict of Reforms promulgated in 1839 was the expressia n of an obvio us and clear directia n towards the Enlightenment State Philosophy (Birand, 1998, 22-23). According to Namık Kemal , Tanzimah had cured the d isease of oppression (Istibdah) in the heart of the State, which was called the 'Sick Man' and restored it its dynamism (N. Kemal, lbrah, No. 48). The E nlightenment was not the result of a natural eva lutian of thinking for the Ottomans, but it rose as a product of an intellectual inceula tion that suddenly came from 1 abroad in mid-1 9 h century (Ülken, 1966, 78). Nonetheless, when they attempted to assess the Enlightenment fro m the po int of the princ iples o f Natural Laws, the Ottomans did not fınd it meaningful to resisı the Enlightenment. It is not impossible to see or interpre t the main princ ip1es of Natural Laws included in the classical Ottoman doctrine. The Natural Law philosophy we regard as the artery of the Enlightenment to the contrary of w hat is supposed to be had n ' t diffıculty in fınding an easy place in the political and socia l layers of the Ottomans. A s a matter of fact, this ease was incomparably further than that of the Western world. Apart from the fact that the said rights were accepted in the po li tical and legal order of the society without the efforts and bloody revolutio ns covering the ages in the West, even the regime changes to further degrees were materialized in a shorter time and with less turma il in comparison to the West. It is impossible to perceive that di ffe rence between the two societies or worlds without the consideration of historical-social reasons, for the Onoman administratio n had been close to personal and arbitrary adminis tration free from all kinds of laws within itself from the very beginning. As a m atter o f fact , the Legislation of Sultan Sulaiman s tipulated that " If a Sultan were to act with his personal arbitrary initiatives, he would be dethro ned and replaced by ana ther member of the Dynasıy" (Ok~ndan, 194, 98). The type of adminis tratio n approved by Mo ntesquieu as a ' legıslated Sultanate administration' was in fact an administration wherewith the Ottomafl political traditio n was not unfamiliar. That concept of administration did not a llow the _emergence of a ruler who would say, "I am the Law". That the issue of Natural Rıghts was mentio ned in the Imperial Edict of Tanzimalı and other edicts and speeches was therefore ne ithe r scorned no r drew 100 much attention· but they were overlooked as being a _repetition of known facts . Those that assess the ı:Uperial Edict of Tanzımah as a revolutıon a re those inte llec tua ls that consider the issue within the frame o f Weste rn political thinking. W e can say that they compelled themselves to see it at the ~evel of a revolutıon because tried to evaluate the fact that the essential concepts and ıdeals that had been noisily defended b y R o usseau. M ontesquieu a nd Locke was Multi-Perception of the Enlightenment Thinking in Nineteenth Century Turkey pronounced with a j iffy declaration with the standard of the history of the Western pol itical struggle. In fact, we could find this defınition by Namık Kemal in Şinasi at an earl ier time and in a stronger style: according to him, Reshid Pasha, who had authored the Imperial Edict ofTanzimah "was a hero who legislated without warring or shedding blood" (Şinasi, 1287). As a matter of fac4 Tanzimah was a very significant period of transformatian in our history from the points of its applications and the results it had induced rather than the articles in the edict on the security of people's lives, property and chastity. The state that pro mulgated and applied Tanzimah could not escape the mishap of encountering the later generatia n in spite of the noteworthy institutional steps in direction of Westernization. The senior staff of Tanzimah that took a courageous step towards the Enlightened State philosophy were accused by the young generatia n was fed by the Enlightenment Thinking-in the lightest sense o f words-of inaptness; and the struggle was ongoing with two frontiers both of which supported Westernization and Civilization. For those that did not see the fight between the youth known as 'New Ottomans' and the Government that supported the West was a fight for power, that was nothing but a struggle for Enlightenment with all the formal conditions thereof: the attack of the revolutionist radical supporters of the Enlightenment against the conservationist supporters of the West. On the other hand, Abuzziyah Tawfiq disdained Reshid Pasha, who was called 'Kodja ' (Great) by everybody, complaining that his support for Progress was exaggerated in an unjust manner, for although he had the who le initiative from ı 838 to ı 858 he abandoned us at a distant place that could not even be recovered in a century, teav e aside informing us of the tendencies of the current century and approximating us to the contemporary qualities (Majmuah Al-Abuzziyah, No. 98). According to Abuzziyah, ' 'During the era of Pashas after Tanzimah were neither schools that would be aware of the base slavery we were in and thus prescribe the ways of salvation wherefrom nor books that would open our minds ... And here Şinasi and his first step into the political world as well as persistence and enthusiasm in the task of teadership ensured us to gain the merits so that we can prove our existence in today's political world" (Abuzziyah, 1973, 76). "Şinasi 's emergence in the publication world is to be regarded as the first page of our age of progress. If Şinasi had not come into existence, neither Kemal nor those after him would have been raised ... " (Abuzziyah, Majmuah AI-Abuzziyah, No.98). According to these statements, if Şinasi and his successors had not emerged, the Age o f Tanzimah would have tasred for many more years without causing any movement in our inte llectual and potirical world of conscience. In fact, Şinasi , who appeared as an intellectual to have organized his intellectual world in best manner in the Age of Tanzimah was an uncompromising supporter of Enlightenment and Civilization. The three qasidahs (poems) he wrote for Res h id Pasha in 1856, 57, 58 were sort of poetic reflections of the Enlightened Thoughts of Montesquieu and Voltaire. The thing he intended to realize with his applause of the Tanzimah Movement and principles with the following verses: Our lives, goods and chastity are the candie of our hearts, Your j ustice is a gl ass beli to protect it from the w i nd of reproach was to establish the philosophical foundation required by the Tanzimah ideology upon universal and everlasting pillar having passed it through the Thought of Enlightenment. Multi -Perception of the En lightenment Thi nking in Nineteenth Century Turkey 174 ~ Kay2ı zoos; ıo Şinasi lasted his line of Enli ghtenment and Civilization with the papers he publ.ished. For instance, the work written by E. Vattel on basis o f Natural Laws under the tıtle of 'Legislation of Man' (Huquq Al-Nas) was translated and publi shed in the newspaper of Taswir Al-Afqar in episodes. It is known that the issue of religion is elabo rated particularly and anew in the Thought of Enlightenment. In fact, the de is t perception that formed by Voltaire among these was going to be adopted by Şinasi and even rel igious poems were going to be written thereon (Şinasi , 1287). The newspaper published by Şinasi increased the tendeney towards the Westem world, thereby having played a signifıcant ro le in the formatian of a young generaıion , who were nourished with new thoughts, among whom were Naıruk Kemal, Abuzziyah, Agah Effendi, and even Ali Suavi. As a matter o f fact, those state offıcials and students sent to Europe by the State were part o f our relationships with Europe; nevertheless, those indi vidual centacts fa iled to go beyand the level of etiquettes that had been devetoping over the Western world and to turn into a mavement of thought and action. The impressions and determinations of Mustafa Sami Effendi might be regarded as the most efficient examples of this manner. It was after Şinasi that the affairs related to the society and State began to interpreted no t with groping, impressions and rationalism but with the Enlightenment Thought al most in a systematic manner. Several months after he had met Şinasi , Naıruk Kemal translated the work of Montesquieu titled 'Considerations over the Reasons for the Rise and Fall o f Romans' and published it in the magazine called 'Mir'ah ' . Again, we are in formed by Abuzziyah (Abuzziyah, 106, 21) and Rıza Nur that he also translated 'Social Contract ' by Rousseau; 'Spirit of Laws' by Montesquieu; 'An E ssay over the Development Histo ry of the Human Spirit' by Condorcet; and even some works of B acon (Ülken, 1940, 775). Stili , Ziya Pasha translated the works of Rousseau titled E m ile and Les Confessions (TBEA, 2001, 941) clearly proved their determination to carry the essential works of the Enlightenment to our intellectual agenda. The thing that is even more si gnifıcant than the fact that the afe resaid authors had translated the mentioned works is that they took these works as an indispensable basis for their own thoughts. The Natural Law Doctrine and the Social Contract Theory were exactl y repeated in Namık Kemal as they had been expressedin Rousseau. It may be observed that Nam ı k Kemal imitated Rousseau beginning from the explanation that the Contract was not a hista rical concept but a logical fiction; that - contrary to t~at of Hob bes - the Contract was no t one of sovereignty and property but a Contract to bınd both the ruler and the citizens (B irand, 1998, 40). In ~ost of his art~cles, in Hürrıyet, Namık Kemal was inspired by the works of R~usseau tıtled the Socıal Contract and the Sources of Inequality between Human- b~ıngs. Eventuall·y·, the thesis of Rousseau that man is a free being not only formed t~e pıvot of the polıtıcal thinking of Namık Kemal but also sen •ed as the basis of hıs romanticism. As is known, he was a poet of freedom. Also, Hürriyet (Liberty) was the name t? the newspaper he published with Ziya Pasha when they f!ed to Europe. Accordıng to Namık Kemal, " Now that man was created as a free beino he is to benefı t from th~ s bounty bes~owed upon him by Allah" . Again, in his view, 'Teople's right of lıberty ıs eternal as ı s the D ivine Justice" (Hürriyet, No. 1) . L ike Rousseau, while he expressed that man could no t forsake his freeda m even with his own will , he always Multi-Perception of the Enlightenment Thinking in Nineteenth Century Turkey paid attention to observing the differences with the intellectuals of the Enlightenment based the concept of Natural Rights, which they considered free from God 's existence, on the eternal human reaso n, Namık Kemal regarded this concept as a bounty of God. Therefore, the Concept of Natural Law, which was used to form the basis of the same ideology, gained separate references with the Thinkers o f Enlightenment and Namık Kemal paraHel to philosophical thinking (Birand, 1998, 36). As a matter of fact, also according to Ali Suavi, the thing that was called Natural Law was in fact the Divine Law (Ülken, 1966, 124). In spite of all his utter proximity to the Thought of Enlightenment, the most noteworthy difference of Nam ık Kemal from the supporters of Enl ightenment, and even the supporters of Enlightenment in Turkey, was his utter Faithful Attitude to such an extent that he was sure if he had any doubt as to their appropriateness to the decrees he believed in, he would end the political struggle to which he dedicated his life without any hesitation. He expressed this in an article in Hürriyet: "If an assembly were formed to make a constitution and I were there due to the lack of man, I would fırst wish that every article thereof is in conformity to Fatwahs. And if this view o f mine were not accepted , I would resign from the Assembly." (Hürriyet, No. 12). With all his liberalism, the attitude in Ziya Pasha was the same, too (Hürriyet, No. 41). White the Reformisı Romanticism that Namık Kemal represenıed successfully accepted and tried to adopt the superiority of the West in the political system and ıechnical means, it regarded the Western culture 's total invasion of the Empire as a vital hazard on the other; thereby taking refuge with the former traditions and institutions anew. This was actually instinct whereon the dualism that was prevalent over Tanzimalı was based (Birand, 1998, 10-1). Namık Kemal , who was a conservative constitutionalist loyal to Islam and the Ottoman tradition in his writings, could be deseribed as a Thinker of Enlightenment of medium stature who got his power from that very Iradition and intended to exert atternpts according to the political views from the West (Ülken, 1966, 133, 151). Although he was a Madrasah student with hi s headgear, Ali Suavi exposed such attitudes as were quite casual and far from conservatism from the points of his attitudes as regards to religion and traditions in comparison to those of Namık Kemal. As a matter o f fact, according to Hilmi Z iya Ülken, Ali Suavi was the essential name of the Enlightenınent with us. Althuugh he had been educated at Madrasahs, he attacked the scholastic thoughts of Madrasahs; although he was a faqi h (lslamic jurist), he rebelled against Fiqh (lslamic Jurisprudence) and fırst defended Laic ism. On the other hand, he backed Turkism as a reac tion against pan-Oıtoman (Üiken, 1966, 101). According to Ali Suavi, the essence of po litics that was summarized as justice by Plato and Muslim scholars and as benefit by Hobbes was the socia l utility, on which basis a community's rights were the security of their lives, chastity and properties. The administration's legality was commensurate to its conformity to the requirements and capability of the place and time where and when it was found. The True Ruler is Allah while the true government is the public government. T here could be no other government in the world that was more perfect and more Jegal than the Republic. However, the tyrant government was not the monarchic or oligarchic government but the government that Multi-Perception of the Enlightenment Thinking in Nineteenth Century Turkey did not consider the public 's benefits (Üiken, 1966, 125). Although the foundation of the government was divine, the application manners thereof were not divine. ~g.aın. the knowledge of politics could not be gained from the Qur·an and the Relıg~on . but Geography, History, Economics, and the similar sciences and experimental applıcatıons (Üiken, 1966, 125). Ali Suavi' s approach to the issue of Caliphate was different. to.o. In his point of view, there could be no Caliphate in Islam. Caliphate was an exceptıonal case that was peculiar to Abu Baqr. The Caliphate of those that succeeded him was meaningless (Üiken, 1966, 1 10) . On the other hand, Ali Suavi was interested in Le Play's separation of indi vidua l and social types that pointed to the essential features of the East and the West as well as Gobineau 's thesis of the inequality of human races, asa result of which he reached the belief that Turks were a superior ra ce (Ülken, 1966, 105, lll ). Apart from his radical views and fierce fights on political issues, another constant effort of Ali Suavi was his attempts in education. That most antagonistic and demagogic man in the New Ottomans team always fel t the burden of a supreme responsibility like education on his shoulders even at the times when he was the prisoner of the harsh conditions he himself had induced; and d id his best to find a way out to materialize it within his own possibilities. After he had taught at the Rushdiyah School in Bursa, he carried on his career as a preacher at mosques. After he had returned from Europe, he was appointed as the Principal of Galatasaray Secondary School. When he started publishing the dai ly Ulum in Paris - as would be understood from the name of the said newspaper - he was interested more in scientific publications than political publications; and in the 64-page book-like newspaper he touched all kinds of sciences; and not suffıcing therewith, he decided to publish an encyclopedia. The planned encyclopedia was going to be published in fascicles as a supplementary of the daily Ulum and was going to be in 10 volumes at completion and each volume was going to be made up of one thousand pages. The encyclopedia he named Qamus Al- Ulum wa' l Maarif (The Lexicon of Science and Education) was unfortunately- as was the case in every work of the time- not completed; rather, it was published in only 82 pages. However, that enterprise was significant from the point of being the first attempt for an encyclopedia. For this reason, we are to assess that attempt of our intellectuals from this aspect in their consideration of the role of encyclopedias in the French Enlightement. As a matter of fact, the gap which Muni f Pasha tried to fill in with the publication of Majmu'ah Al-Funun (Magazine of Science) in 1862 was again that need for an encyclopedia. The intellectua\s of the time believed that enlightenment without an encyclopedia would remain incomplete. Majmuah Al-Funun was actually planned to be the publication of Jamiyyah Al- Ilmiyyah AI-Uthmaniyyah (Scientific Association of Ottomans) was a magazine that was published in three periods until 1888, the first of which was in 1862. Munif Pasha. ~he founder of the Jamiyyah Al-llmiyyah and the magazine, was a vastl y-cultured ıntellectual , who was versed in French, English and German apart from the Eastern languages, of~ci.ated as the Pre~ident of Maj li s AI-Maarif (The Assembly of Education) and as the Mınıster of Educatıon for three periods. In fact, his mansion in Istanbul Haseki was a place where scholars of science and culture from both the Occident and the Orient met. Munif Pasha, who had once taught at Maqtab AI-Mulkiyyah for some Multi-Perception of the Enlightenment Thinking in Nineteenth Century Turkey 177 time, gave Sultan Abludhamid II private classes on Economics and Politics with his vast knowledge in the Science of Economics. Althouoh the major field Majmu'ah AI-Funun focused on was related to positive sciences, it ~as possible to see articles on such branches as philosophy and anthropology therein from time to time. The article of Hayrullah Effendi on human- beings' coming into existence and dispersion may be regarded as the first example of articleson anthropology. As for the examples on philosophy, it was possible to see such articles as the one by Said Effendi on the unison of theory and practice wherein an important philosophical problem that has been studied ever since Hegel in diverse manners took place (Ülken, 1966, 86). As a matter of fact, Munif Pasha's relation with philosophy was at an advanced level that would rank him among the pioneers of the history of the contemporary philosophy. Wi th his translation of the work of Fenelon, in which he introduced all the antique Greek philosopher from French and published it in the issues of Majmu'ah AI-Funun from No. 13 to 45 under the title of History of Greek Philosophers, as well as with the work titled Muhawarah Al-Hiqamiyyah, which he made a book in 1859, he undersigned noteworthy works in our changing history of thought. Stili, it was Munif Pasha, who fitst became aware of the obligation to pass from the story-like and didactic understanding of history on to genetic history in Turkey. Although the interest and pleasure in books were high in the Ottoman society, the issue of general librarianship failed to reach the desired level. After Tanzimah, the classifıcation tables of libraries began to be prepared with a view to introducing a new system, whereby it was aimed to establish such libraries as were absolutely new in reference to contents and order on basis of Western principles. The first example of this sort of libraries was the Library of Jamiyyah Al-Ilmiyyah Al-Uthmaniyyah (Scientific Association ofüttomans) established by MunifPasha (Cumbur, 1964, 691-692). Apart from that modern library that was established by Munif Pasha in the Tas Maqtab (Stone School) Building in Çiçek Bazaar, he was also the founder of the General Library of Bayezid, which is one of the most valuable and great libraries of our time, during the time when he was Minister of Education. The premises of Jamiyyah Al-llmiyyah in the Çiçek Bazaar housed extremely efficient services. Anather social event Munif Pasha held there were conferences and dasses open to the public, among which the fırst exemplary activities of an absolutely new understanding !ike the History Classes of Hayrullah Effendi . In 1862 and 1863, the classes of Dar Al-Funun were held open to public, after which the lesson notes were later published in Şinasi's Taswir Al- Afqar and MunifPasha's Majmu'ah AI-Funuo, which were in print at the time. ~he classes of Hiqmah Al-Tarih, which were considered the first ~ociology dasses ın Turkey, were lectured by Ahmed Wafiq Pasha at public sessions, after which they were published in Şinasi 's newspaper in episodes and later published in form of books. A~ is seen, although he had officiated in high positions of the State, Munif Pasha was_n ot ınterested and involved in politics. In fact, he was a supporter of Educational Enlı~htenment who belie_ved that the future and progress of the country would be possıb_le by way of educatıon. He expressed his principle of publication in the first issue of MaJmu'ah AI-Funun with this statement: '1"his very Majmu'ah AI-Funun ... will give Multi-Percept ion of the Enlightenment Thinking in Nineteenth Century Turkey 178 ~KUY2t ıoos;ıo useful information on sciences and industry other than religion and daily politics'' (Majmu'ah Al-Funun, No. l). Nevertheless, although information was given on foreign political affairs after a while to some extent , the policy not to publish any articlesor news on the Religion continued. Although no mention was overtly made in Şinasi's daily of such a principle, no article was published in it on Religion. Thatjoint aıtitude of these two supporters of Enlightenment could be the contemplation that articles that elaborated on religious thinking apart from such issues on sciences and education - that they weightily zoomed in on - as were observed through modern focuses did not have any spoiling effects over those values they believed in and tried to disseminate. Resorting to religious references even in such issues as would support themselves would come to mean being drawn into the former tradition, for the essential strategy of modern and Enlightening Thinking was to get rid of religious references (Mermutlu, 2003, 219-220). The systematic indifference of Munif Pasha and Şinasi towards Religion was the joint attitude of these very two. The reign of Sultan Abdulhamid Il was a period in which political thoughts and movements were suppressed but educational activities developed and spread the most. In fact, Muni f Pasha offıciated as the Minister of Education for three terms in this era. Stili , it was this period wherein the studies and researches of Ahmed Midhat Effendi, of the most eminent publicists and educators of Turkey, actually gained pace. With an incentive to tilter and publicize the Western culture that had been imported into the country ever si nce Tanzimah, to encourage people to read and again- in his own words - "to fill in people ' s minds with enlightened thoughts in place of the superstitions of the ancient fairy sıories printed by Ajems (Persians)", Ahmed Midhat Effendi authored a great number of works on general philosophy, religious philosophy, law, economics, politics, literature, poetry, story, novel, psycho logy, ethics, ete. After he worked as the edita r of Taqwim Al-Waka' i and Matbaah Al-Amirah, he founded his own paper Tarjuman Al-Haqiqah. He was sponsored by Sultan Abdulhamid II with this newspaper, which was actually published from 1876 to 1908. In fact, that newspaper turned out to be school where a great number of litterateurs and authors !ike Hüseyin Rahmi, Ahmed Rasim, ete. were raised (Üllcen, 1966, 157-1 66). Ahmed Midhat Effendi expressed in many articles of his that he was against the abstaetes before thinking, as an example of which he made mention of the tortures of the eourts of inquisition in history. On the ~ther hand, ~e aceepted the hazards of unrestricted liberty. Again, he opposed political lıberty eausıng anarchy and the economic liberalism defended enthusiastically by ?hannes an? Namık Kemal. He added that there eould be no grounds for the ımplement~tıon o_f Adam Smith's economy, the eapability of applieation whereof was ev~n questıoned ~n European countries, in our country. He alsa stated that we had to wnte t~e economıc works that were appropriate for our eountry even i f we had acquıred the bası~ knowledge from Adam Smith and the !ike sinee every eountry bad a differenı economıc strueture and eonditions (Ülken, 1966, 172). ~hmed Midhat Effendi divided sciences into three groups as positive sciences, exaet scıences and probable seıenees and stated that the Scienee of Eeonomics should be eo~sidered as o~e of the probable seiences !ike philosophy; and that it would be ın?re meanıngful that phılosophy should solely limit its subject to ethics rather than touchıng the essenees of other seienees (Ülken, 1966, 168). Mult i-Perception of the Enlightenment Thinking in Nineteenth Century Turkey ~KUY2t ıoostıo 179 Even if he was not a supporter of liberty, Ahmed Midhat Effendi first elaborated upon the concept of liberty as a philosophical term outside of the frame of political thinking in bis article titled "The Definition of Liberty" and examined it in an extremely efficient manner. While the thinkers of Tanzimah and the New Ottomans had been only interested in political issues of thought till then, it was first Ahmed Midhat Effendi in the Turkish life of thinking that they began to contemplate over the philosophical problems of the West (Ülken, 1966, 160-2). A. Midhat Effendi co mpiled and published his works Tarih Al-Adyan (History of Religions) on religions in the modern sense a nd Tarih AI-Hiqmah (History of Phi losophy) on the his tory of philosophy from the lectures he gave at the university. Although his work Tarih Al-Adyan was a book on the history of religions, it was a leading study that elaborated upon the affairs of the religious sociology with its general lines (Mermutlu, 2000, 93-100). I think I have to make mention of a last name: Abuzziyah Tawfik, who was wished and endeavored, in his own words. to "complete the training gained from the West with the education of the East". Abuzziyah, who said, "Kemal accepted me as a student of knowledge; but I could not prove the ski ll he wished; I took the way of Şinasi in thinking, I headed for politics" (M ajmu'ah Al-Abuzziyah, No.96), became one of the unforgettable names of our country ' s political and cultural history with his publications in the newspaper of Taswir AI-Afqar, which he got from Şinasi , and in the review Majmu' ah AI-Abuzziyah, which he himself published, until his death in 1913; with hundreds of books published in his printing press- the quality of which is hard to excel; with the political struggles he gave and the exiles he suffered . BIBLIOGRAPHY ABDURRAHMAN Adil ( 1338) Kemal Paşazade Said Bey ve Mesai-i Hukukiyyesi, Hadisat-ı Hukuki ye, Second Edi tion, Part 2, İkdam Priming Press, Istanbul, pp. 17-23. BİRA D, Kamuran ( 1998) Kamuran Birand Külliyatı- Aydınlanma Devri Devlet Felsefesinin Tanzimatta Tesirleri, Akçağ Publications, Ankara. CUMBUR, Müjgan ( 1964) Tanzimat'ın Kütüphaneciliğimize Etkileri, Belleıen, V. XXV IJI, lssue No. 11 2, October, pp. 691- 700. EBÜZZİYA Tevfik (I329) Süleyman Nazif Beyefendi 'ye, Mecmua-i Ebüzziya, No 96- 98, Kosıantiniyye. EBÜZZİYA Tevfik (1290) Salname-i Hadika, Istanbul. EBÜZZİYA Tevfik (I 973) Yeni Osmanlılar Tarihi V. I-11-III , Simplifıed by: Ziyad Ebüzziya, Kervan Publications, Istanbul. KARAL, Enver Ziya (1940) Halet Efendi'nin Paris Büyükelçiliği , I.U. Publications, Kenan Printing Press, Istanbul. KA YNAR, Reşat (1985) Mustafa Reşit Paşa ve Tanzimat, 2. Edition, T.T.K. Printing House, Ankara. MERMUTLU, Bedri (2003) Sosyal Düşünce Tarihimizde Şinasi, Kaknüs Publicaıions, Istanbul. Multi-Perception of the Enlightenment Thinking in Nineteenth Century Turkey ıso ~KUY2t 2oos;ıo MERMUTLU, Bedri (2000) Din Sosyolojisini Müjdeleyen Bir Eser: 'Tarih-i Edyan' 1e Ahmed Midhat Efendi, Türkiye Günlüğü. lssue No. 6 1, Summer, pp. 93-100. OKAN DAN, Recai Galip (1940) Amme Hukukumuzda Tanzimat Devri, Tanzimat 1. pp. 97-128. Istanbul, 1940. ŞiNASİ (2001) Müntehabat-ı Eş'anm. Tasvir-i Efkar Printing Press, Istanbul, 1281. TANZiMATTAN BUGÜ E EDEBİYATÇILAR ANSİKLOPEDİSİ, İletişim Publicaıi005. Istanbul. ÜLKEN, Hilmi Ziya ( 1940) Tanzimat' tan Sonra Fikir Hareketleri, Tanzimat I, pp. 751· 775, Istanbul. ÜLKEN, Hilmi Ziya (1966) Türkiye 'de Çağdaş Düşünce Tarihi 1-11, Selçuk Priming Ho use, Konya.