Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2019 In Pursuit of Indigenous Turkish Philosophy of Education: The Educational TZekhi Aokduemgirht of Mehmet Akif Ersoy Follow this and additional works at the DigiNole: FSU's Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION IN PURSUIT OF INDIGENOUS TURKISH PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION: THE EDUCATIONAL THOUGHT OF MEHMET AKIF ERSOY By ZEKI AKDEMIR A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2019 © 2019 Zeki Akdemir Zeki Akdemir defended this dissertation on November 12, 2019. The members of the supervisory committee were: Jeffrey Ayala Milligan Professor Directing Dissertation William Hanley University Representative Robert Schwartz Committee Member Carolyn Herrington Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the dissertation has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I could not finish this dissertation without the guidance and prodigious patience of my major professor, Jeffrey Ayala Milligan. Dr. Milligan, I do not know how to thank you for your great support during the entire dissertation process. Your help before, during and after preparation of every single chapter of this dissertation made it possible to reach this level. I am also grateful to Dr. Robert Schwartz, Dr. Carolyn Herrington and Dr. William Hanley, my dissertation committee members, for their great encouragement, suggestions, and very helpful feedback. Their supervision and wisdom made it possible for me to complete my degree. I am also thankful to my sponsor, the Turkish Ministry of Education, for providing financial support for me to pursue a doctoral degree in the United States. In addition, I express my professors in my bachelor’s program in Ataturk University to Dr. Abamüslim Akdemir, Dr. Hüseyin Aydoğdu, Dr. Zafer Yılmaz, Dr. Adnan Ömerustaoğlu, Dr. Mustafa Cihan, and Dr. Şeref Günday for their support and encouragement. I would like to express my sincere and deep thanks to my parents, Hayati and Sultan, my sisters Gülcan and Zeynep, my brothers Yakup, Musfafa and Ömer Faruk for their precious love and kindness I am surrounded with. My beloved parents, brothers and sisters, I may never have a chance to express how much light your love fills into my spiritual and emotional world; however, I always feel the most fortunate person in the world that I have you as my family. I would like to express my gratitude for my motivation sources, Sultan Rana and Asım, my beautiful children. Finally, I would like to express my most sincere thanks and appreciation to my precious wife and soul mate, Fadime Akdemir for her devotion as well as endless patience. You all are my heaven on earth. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................ vii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................. viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION: HARMONIZING THE SACRED AND SECULAR IN TURKISH EDUCATIONAL THOUGHT ..................................................................................... 1 1.1 Religion and Education in the Modern World ...................................................................... 1 1.2 Religion and Education in the Muslim World ...................................................................... 8 1.3 Selection of Poetry as a Source ........................................................................................... 17 1.4 Method ................................................................................................................................ 25 1.5 Research Questions ............................................................................................................. 28 1.6 Significance ......................................................................................................................... 29 CHAPTER 2 FROM RELIGIOUS EMPIRE TO SECULAR REPUBLIC: THE CHANGING EDUCATIONAL LANDSCAPE OF MEHMET AKIF ERSOY ................................................ 31 2.1 The Islamic Educational Tradition....................................................................................... 31 2.2 Classical Ottoman Education to the Early 19th Century ..................................................... 33 2.2.1 Sibyan Schools ............................................................................................................. 33 2.2.2 Enderun Schools ........................................................................................................... 34 2.2.3 Madrasah ...................................................................................................................... 36 2.3 Late Ottoman Education and Reforms ................................................................................. 44 2.4 Religion and Education in the Republic of Turkey ............................................................. 51 2.5 Mehmet Akif Ersoy in the Educational Discourse .............................................................. 55 CHAPTER 3 THE LIFE AND WORK OF MEHMET ERSOY .................................................. 57 3.1 Ersoy’s Education and Life Story ........................................................................................ 57 3.2 Works of Ersoy .................................................................................................................... 61 3.2.1 Sermons ........................................................................................................................ 61 3.2.2 Columns ........................................................................................................................ 62 3.2.3 Poems ........................................................................................................................... 62 3.2.4 Translations .................................................................................................................. 65 3.3 Literature about Mehmet Akif Ersoy ................................................................................... 67 3.3.1 Studies about Religion and Society in Ersoy’s Works and Ersoy as a Social Figure .. 69 3.3.2 Studies about Ersoy’s Poems and Prose as Works of Art ............................................ 71 3.3.3 Studies about Ersoy’s Educational Thoughts ............................................................... 73 CHAPTER 4 THE CONCEPT OF THE EDUCATED PERSON IN ERSOY’S ASIM............... 78 4.1 Asım .................................................................................................................................... 78 iv 4.1.1 Asım, a Historical Figure ............................................................................................. 79 4.1.2 Asım, a Book of Poetry ................................................................................................ 80 4.1.3 Asım, the Main Character in Ersoy’s Poem ................................................................. 82 4.1.4 Characters and Discussions in Asım ............................................................................ 84 4.2 The Concept of the Educated Person in Ersoy’s Asım ........................................................ 99 4.2.1 Negative Case ............................................................................................................... 99 4.2.2 Marginal Case (Asım the Individual) ......................................................................... 102 4.2.3 Clear Case (The Asım Generation) ............................................................................ 104 4.3 Philosophical Presuppositions of Ersoy's Ideal of the Educated Person ........................... 106 4.3.1 Rejects Dichotomization of Knowledge and Morality ............................................... 107 4.3.1.1 Gnosis vs. Episteme ............................................................................................ 107 4.3.1.2 Priority of Episteme in Western Science ............................................................ 108 4.3.1.3 Priority of Moral Knowing Over Rational Knowing in Islam ............................ 109 4.3.1.4 Ersoy Asserts Complementarity of Morality and Knowledge ............................ 110 4.3.2 Affinities with Pragmatism ......................................................................................... 112 4.3.2.1 Ralph Waldo Emerson ........................................................................................ 113 4.3.2.2 John Dewey ......................................................................................................... 114 4.3.2.3 Richard Rorty ...................................................................................................... 115 4.3.2.4 Cornel West ........................................................................................................ 117 4.3.3 Continuity and Change ............................................................................................... 118 4.4 Relevance to Turkish Concept .......................................................................................... 119 4.4.1 Family, Education and Society Relation in Ersoy’s