Polıtıcal Thought

Yanıt Açıklaması: Al-Mâwardi’s requirements for being a caliph:  The caliph, on his view, must be: 1.Just, 2. Possessing full knowledge of the shari‘ah to be skilled in independent interpretation (ijtihâd), 3. Good in overall health-especially in terms of sight, hearing and speech, 4. Physically sound and not disabled from movement, 5. Good in administration, 6. Brave and courageous enough to declare war and fight against enemies, 7. In relation with (a descendant of) the family of Quraish (ibid).

Yanıt Açıklaması: The members of the Polis, in other words citystate, consist of polites , namely the citizens; and the citizens of the polis consist of free Greek men among which foreigners, women, and slaves are not included.

Yanıt Açıklaması: Ibn Khaldu^n’s thought was organized in his magnum opus, namely, The Muqaddimah. It is known to us through his Muqaddimah and his autobiography-namely Et-Ta^’ri^f (bi^-Ibn Khaldun Wa Rıhletu^hu Garban ve Sharkan) that Ibn Khaldu^n’s level of education, motivation for further learning, as well as his intellectual capabilities, are really high. When his experience as a diplomat, jurist, advisor and vizier for more than 40 years is added to the equation, the sum is a multidirectional analysis of utmost significance, which transcends his lifetime and gives rise to a philosophical evaluation of history-both as a discipline, and as a realm of existence.

Yanıt Açıklaması: A, C and E are works of Aristoteles. Republic is a work of Platon. The Perfect State is a work of Al-Farabi.

Yanıt Açıklaması: In broad terms, the contextual approach stresses the need to historicize the works of political theory in order to understand the particular historical moment and its impact on political thinking. According to such an approach to the political thought, the way great philosophers grasp society and the spirit of their own times, the others who address their works, and their sources of influence carry significance only within a contextualized perspective towards the political ideas.

Yanıt Açıklaması: Classical political economists feeding upon the classical liberal conceptions proposed an ought to be situation in which the state and markets were clearly demarcated.

Yanıt Açıklaması: Al-Fârâbî’s written works on politics-as well as his other works on philosophy- appear to have a familiarity with Plato and Aristotle.

Yanıt Açıklaması: Political thoughts are not descriptive, but normative perspectives; meaning that they do not aim to find out how things are, but attempt to convince (or persuade) us how things ought to be. In such attempts, concepts and methods constitute the unique pillars of political thoughts and theories. In fact, they are the primary underpinnings, and sometimes sources of persuasiveness, of all thoughts and theories in social sciences. They provide an essential informational basis to give meaning to thoughts that usually contend and conflict with each other and theories that systematically advocate a particular way of approaching political issues. Therefore, both thoughts and theories cannot sufficiently be grasped without being adequately informed about their conceptual and methodological frameworks.

Yanıt Açıklaması: Politics is a work by Aristoteles.

Yanıt Açıklaması: Ideas taken by the medieval thinkers from the law texts might be listed thus: 1. A distinction among kinds of laws, namely natural law (ius naturale), law of nations (ius gentium), and civil law (i.e., the law of a particular community). 2. A notion of rights, including natural rights (currently, “human rights”), which may be attributed to individuals. It is noteworthy that the language of rights, without which many people these days would not know how to talk about politics, did not fully enter political philosophy until the fourteenth century as a borrowing from the law, 3. “The one liberty of all men”, i.e., the idea that human beings are basically equal and that slavery is contrary to natural law, though in accordance with the law of nations, 4. The origin of property: according to some Roman law texts, property originated by natural law; according to others by the law of nations. According to canon law, property exists by human law (which includes the law of nations and the civil law); compare Augustine’s statement that property exists by the laws of the emperors, 5. The doctrine that the source of political authority is the people, who have, however, entrusted their power to the emperor or some other ruler, 6. The doctrine that either the pope or emperor (or both) has a “fullness of power”, 7. The doctrine that natural law permits an individual to resist force by force; which would provide a premise for arguments for the right to disobey a tyrannical government, used later by John Locke (1632-1704), 8. A distinction between Church and Statemore exactly, between the priesthood and the power of the emperor, each independent in its own sphere, though the priesthood has the higher function (ibid: 11-12).

Yanıt Açıklaması: Cicero’s main aim was to turn back to old aristocratic days. According to Cicero, public and republic –state- were the same. When people united within a stable order, a need for administration occurred. Society was a result of sense of community and state was a result of political differentiation. State was a unity, in which people were united with a common objective and connected to each other with legal bonds

Yanıt Açıklaması: The Muqaddimah is the sum of the Foreword, the Introduction and the First Book of Kitâba’l-Ibar, which Ibn Khaldûn intended as a comprehensive history of world civilizations. However, the analyses and the visionary thoughts on politics, civilization and history have overshadowed what were written in the remaining of Kitâba’l-Ibar; moreover, the studies on Ibn Khaldûn’s thought after his death (1406) have focused more on The Muqaddimah. In the Introduction of The Muqaddimah, Ibn Khaldûn started with setting forth his evaluation on the science of history; and in the First Book, with elaborating the following subjects and the reasons underlying them in general: the nature of ‘umrân in the world, and the rural life without the nomadic-settled distinction (bedâwah), sedentary culture and urban life (khadârah), taghallub (sovereignty over winning wars/battles), income, making a living, sciences and education, crafts, etc. This general content was separated into six chapters afterwards; and each subject, was elaborated and discussed in ‘encyclopedical’ details, so to speak. The first chapter consists of a description-in general framework- of the human civilization, its classes and the places occupied by those civilizations on earth. In the second chapter, the rural societies and their civilizations, i.e. the lives of the societies making a living on agriculture and stockbreeding in rather primitive ways, regardless of the fact that they are nomads or settled as villages, are taken up (In Ibn Khaldûn’s words, ‘badawî ‘umrân’). The third chapter-which also could be read as Ibn Khaldûn’s political theory/philosophy- is an analysis of the idea(s) of state, dynasties, caliphate, rulership and the stages in the organization of state as well as positions in bureaucracy and their duties. The fourth chapter reflects Ibn Khaldûn’s elaboration of the urban societies and their civilizations –i.e. ‘khadarî ‘umrân’, as well as cities and sedentary cultures. The fifth chapter briefly outlines Ibn Khaldûn’s theory of economics; and the majority of the chapter consists of the ways of making a living, in both stages of ‘umrân. The sixth and the last chapter covers an analysis of the sciences, how they are acquired, and transferred to posterity through education. As also understood from the information given, the correct answer is E.

Yanıt Açıklaması: Administration is an occupation, not a virtue.

Yanıt Açıklaması: All of the above reflect William of Ockham’s view.

Yanıt Açıklaması: John of Paris’ assumption that original appropriation is by individuals, and his idea that individuals acquire property by “labour and industry” (86, 103), seem to have a lot in common with Locke’s theory of property. However, John of Paris indicates that individuals acquire property under human law, which is the traditional view among medieval theologians, following Augustine. Though property is acquired under human law, it is acquired by individuals, not directly by rulers.

Yanıt Açıklaması: The Christian theologians of late antiquity are referred to as the Fathers of the Church. The most influential of them in medieval Europe was Augustine; others included Ambrose, Cyprian, and Gregory (ibid). Many of the Fathers were influenced by the Platonism and Stoicism, as every educated person became acquainted with in the ancient world. Augustine, who was particularly influenced by Neoplatonism, especially by Plotinus, could be seen as a milestone on the path from The Fathers of the Church to early scholastics.

Yanıt Açıklaması: According to Farabi, requirements of common knowledge among the members of the perfect state include the material existents-including the active intellect, the celestial substances, the first ruler, the first cause and all its qualities, but the balance between man and animal. Thus, the correct answer is A.

Yanıt Açıklaması: Al-Fârâbî’s written works on politics-as well as his other works on philosophy- appear to have a familiarity with Plato and Aristotle. However, when political philosophy is the case, his direct resources of inspiration are as follows: Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics; Plato’s Republic; Aristotle’s Politics, which was only partially available in Arabic. However, his major works The Perfect State, The Political Regime or The Principles of Beings begin with a metaphysical part presented as a descendant of Neo-Platonic legacy followed by a second part dealing with the organization of the city or state and do not treat of being and unity as the most universal notions. The hierarchical structure of the ideal state reflects purely the hierarchical emanationist structure presented in the first part. As is also understood from the information given, the correct answer is C. When political philosophy is the case, “Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics”,  “Plato’s Republic” and  “Aristotle’s Politics” are his direct resources of inspiration. “The Perfect State” The Political Regime” and The Principles of Beings are his major works.

Yanıt Açıklaması: A particular way of understanding and interpretation offered by the postmodern approach to judge political projects of the modernity form a normative dimension in which a universally- defined “ought to be” situation or a universally- defined good/better/beautiful/desired is sceptically evaluated. Its way of denigration of grand narratives places the postmodern approach at odds with the normative aspects of the modern political philosophy. As prescribing a set of reforms and particular steps to reach to the modernity’s “ought to be” situation would pave the way for consolidating a grand narrative, the postmodern approach rather emphasizes the constitutive role of the discourse and its formation. Briefly saying, instead of sticking to an “ought to be” situation of modernity, postmodern perspective constitutes its theory on discourse and its formation.

Yanıt Açıklaması: Plato was the founder of Academia -the first academic institution of Europe-, where he taught his philosophy and political views. The institution was sponsored by some rich friends of Plato himself.