Bir on altıncı yüzyıl Osmanlı aliminin gözüyle siyaset: Taşköprizade Ahmed'in (ö. 968 / 1561) yönetim üzerine söylemi

This thesis focuses on the theme of rulership in the discourse of the Ottoman scholar Taşköprizade Ahmed (d. 968/1561), who lived during the reigns of Selim I (1512-20) and Süleyman (1520-1566). Through an analysis of his three works, which might be regarded as ethical, philosophical and sufi texts, this thesis sheds light on Taşköprizade's political and moral teachings within the context of the mid-sixteenth century Ottoman Empire. In terms of intellectual context, Taşköprizade not only continued the akhlāq tradition by composing a commentary to Ījī's text but also provided one of the most elaborate classifications of the sciences of rulership in his encyclopedia of sciences. The central argument of the thesis is that Taşköprizade's foremost scholarly model and main source of inspiration in formulating his views on rulership was Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī. Envisioning an ideal ruler to be an ascetic, Taşköprizade embraced and reappropriated many aspects of Ghazālī's discourse on rulership, namely, the degrees of government, the emphasis on knowledge in rulership, the ideal relationship between scholars and sultans as well as the high standards of piety for rulers. Taşköprizade's second source in formulating his views on rulership was Ibn al-'Arabī, whose symbolic language helped Taşköprizade make a direct correlation between the government of self and the government of human community. Notwithstanding his peculiar discourse, Taşköprizade can be situated among the sixteenth-century Ottoman political writers who maintained a moral-philosophical approach to rulership.