Prince Sabahaddin: Political, social and economic thought

The aim of this study is to examine the political, social and economic ideas of Prince Sabahaddin, who was an important intellectual with his stance against Sultan Abdulhamid, although he was the a member of the Ottoman dynasty and a nephew of Sultan Abdulhamid. Prince Sabahaddin, one of the intellectuals seeking recipes for the social crisis of the Ottoman Empire in the 18th and 19th centuries, believed that it should be changed permanently starting from the family and the individual, which is the cornerstone of the social structure, rather than offering short and temporary solutions such as changing and reforming the administrative and political structure. And with advocating this view, it has taken a different position from other intellectuals. Prince Sabahaddin tried to solve the problems of the Ottoman Empire with scientific methods instead of interim measures and ideas. He suggested applying positive science technique to social science. Prince Sabahaddin advocated individualism in social life, personal enterprise in economic life and decentralization in administrative administration. The basis of this dissertation is the ideas which are advocated by Prince Sabahaddin. Almost all of the previous studies on Prince Sabahaddin did not address the political, social and economic dimensions as a whole, and therefore could not fully explain Prince Sabahaddin's ideas. For this reason, in this study, Prince Sabahaddin's ideas were taken holistically and it was revealed that he had a certain consistency within himself.