God as a simulacrum in the context of Jean baudrillard's Simulation theory

After World War II, it can be said that Continental Europe lost its dominance in the fields of thought, science, economy and power to the transatlantic. The period under the dominance of continental Europe is called modern, and the period after that is generally referred to as post-modern. It is known that this nomenclature is controversial and that there is no consensus on this issue. However, the period we are living in can be called the age of artificial intelligence, based on the dominance of telematics, which is easily observable and distinctive based on daily life. Jean Baudrillard's simulation-simulacrum theory, which analyzes the states of this artificiality since the pause phase of artificial intelligence, is the main data source of this thesis. The choice of the concept of simulacrum was also accepted in order to discuss the problems encountered in the age of artificial intelligence. The reason for choosing the concept of God as the complement of the phrase in the title of the thesis is due to the function that God is assumed to perform as the most important Other/Mirror of the human being in self-determination. The study is based on Baudrillard's four orders of simulacra. His views on these four orders are given in each order, the purpose and method information is given at the beginning of the section, and at the end of the section, summary and document analysis method is used under the title of sectional conclusion, and a general evaluation is made in the conclusion section. In general, the data were evaluated according to the phenomenological and structuralist perspectives. In terms of the data, Baudrillard was generally faithful to Baudrillard and the historicity of the books was tried to be taken into consideration. In this way, it is assumed that it will be possible to trace the development of his views over time. In Baudrillard's thought, if spiritual values are subjected to objectification, they can undergo a change in meaning in the desired direction, and when they are reduced to a sign, there is a high probability that an equivalent will always be found. In this respect, if simulacra of God can emerge and simulate Him, and if belief in Him can be reduced to signs, the gravity of the situation is indisputable according to Baudrillard. Because when this happens, when God is simulated, the whole system is immediately reduced to a huge simulacrum. According to Baudrillard, one of the main factors in this regard is the human tendency to make do with appearances. As a result, according to him, when there is no system of equivalents and purposes for which one can exchange oneself, one moves on to any exponential structure and fictional disorder. Based on the data in the study, this seems to be the case for God as well. For example, it can be evaluated that events such as the omnipotent absolute, the empire of goodness, the definitions of omniscience, and the icons that were decided by the councils, have been replaced by simulacra in the history of Christianity, thus leading to a fictional irregularity. In Baudrillard's system of thought, it is argued that reference is lost in the simulation period in the context of signifier-showed-signifier-signifier. In addition, starting from the claim that we live under the power of simulacra as a result of the dominance of the image, the reflections, causes and functioning of the shift of meaning in daily life are tried to be revealed from a philosophical perspective in the study. Thus, the changing notion of God in the West was tried to be revealed. As a result, it is hoped that the study will make a small contribution to the studies on artificial intelligence, simulation, simulacrum, secularization in the field of philosophy of religion and theology in our country.