The possibility and the sources of moral and political philosophies in Kutadgu Bilig

This study consists of four chapters, including the introduction part. The etymological structures of the terms 'morality' and 'politics', the main concepts of the thesis, were mentioned in the introduction part. In the second part of the thesis, the cultural life of the Turks before the adoption of Islam was mentioned by drawing a general framework and then the philosophical thoughts of important thinkers from the Chinese, Indian and Persian cultures with whom they interacted were emphasized. Moreover, in this section, the pre-Islamic cultural nature of the Turks was discussed under the headings of God, universe and human imaginations, and with the acceptance of Islam, the social values of Turkish culture were expressed by including the Turks conceptions of God, the universe and human beings. In the third part, based on the content of Kutadgu Bilig, which constitutes the basis of our thesis, meanings of knowledge that lead to happiness and state ownership, it is stated that a person can reach such levels by being a virtuous being. Since it was stated in Kutadgu Bilig that knowledge and virtue cover the same content, and that a person will move towards the happiness of the afterlife through virtuous actions as a social being. In these descriptions, first the classifications in the form of individual morality, then family morality and then state morality were mentioned. Then, the virtues of the monarch, in which the ideal person is depicted, are included. In the last chapter, the main goal of the thesis which is based on the question of what are the ways to show that Kutadgu Bilig is a text of morality and politics, and the emphasis is placed on the moral and political principles contained in the content of the work. In the last part, a general framework has been tried to be presented by referring to virtue ethics.