The transition from Ilm al-Nafs to psychology in the late Ottoman period

This study examines how the works of Ottoman intellectuals changed in terms of subject, problem, method, concept and sources during the period when psychology separated from philosophy and became an independent science. As the background of the transition from Ilm al-Nafs to psychology, psychology courses at Dârülfünun are discussed. Then, the influence of Islamic and Western thought on the works of Ottoman intellectuals is analyzed. In these studies, it is seen that some Ottoman intellectuals adhered strictly to classical Islamic thought, some of them only turned towards the developments in the West, and most of them did not abandon the classical Islamic thought, but closely followed the new developments in the world of Western thought. As elements of change, the expansion and deepening of the subjects, new topics, methodological change, changes in concepts, sources and issues in psychology works written in the last period of the Ottoman Empire are examined and evaluated. In this context, the connection of the metaphysics-based science of nafs with the science of psychology and the changes experienced are tried to be revealed.