Author
SALUR, Bilge, ÇELEBİ, Fırat
Publication Place
Hits University -
Hits University
Subject
Faith, Mysticism, Reason
Type
Book
Language
ara,eng,tur
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Library
Leitir Library
Library Asset ID
ISSN: 2757-6949, EISSN: 2757-6949, DOI: 10.14395/hid.1053005
Record ID
cdi_doaj_primary_oai_doaj_org_article_2e6f4695e2d54834beb87635e38e42b8
Library Location
DOAJ Directory of Open Access Journals
Notes
The aim of this study is to examine the views of Søren Kierkegaard, one of the important thinkers of early modern philosophy, on the problem of the relationship between faith and reason, which has been discussed from many perspectives in the history of thought, and to examine in what ways his views were influenced by the late medieval thinker Meister Ekchart, and to compare the views of the two thinkers on the issue in question. In this sense, Meister Eckhart, an important theologian, preacher and mystical thinker of the Late Middle Ages, developed an understanding different from the traditional religious views of his age and based his philosophical thoughts, especially the understanding of faith, by centering on the concept of abstraction (abgeschiedenheit). According to Eckhart, a person's relationship with God is quite internal and subjective. However, the thinker's understanding of faith is based on man's liberation from reason (intellectus) and will (voluntas), and emptying himself of everything by freeing himself. Because, according to Eckhart, a person can unite with God through a mystical experience only when he isolates himself from everything. Therefore, it can be interpreted that Eckhart's understanding of faith is unique and subjective in the context of Christian theology of the period. The thinker opposed the dominant understanding of classical Christianity and institutionalized religion of his time, and discussed the person's relationship with God through a special experience. Eckhart has a fideist perspective, with the belief that reason can be misleading in understanding God. According to Eckhart, man can only experience unity with God after letting go of everything and being saved. Therefore, a person seeking God must withdraw not only from his attachment to his own mind and soul, but also from everything worldly. Because the thinker claims that man can become a being similar to God by getting rid of all his attachments and with God's grace. It is clear that this kind of devotion is mystical and quite internal in nature. As a thinker who adopts negative theology, Eckhart argues that it is impossible to say anything about God and therefore states that humans should remain silent in the face of God. According to the thinker, finding God should be sought only for the sake of knowing God. Because, according to Eckhart, if God is desired for his blessings or the good things he will provide to people, this prevents loving God completely. For this reason, Eckhart says that for the person who truly loves God, pain, sorrow, joy and all similar good or bad emotions are the same. Approximately five hundred years after Meister Eckhart, in the nineteenth century, philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, who was born in Denmark, developed an understanding of faith similar to the medieval Christian thinker, thanks to the studies of his teacher Hans Lassen Martensen on Eckhart, and built a religious-based philosophy, unlike the thinkers of his age. In order to understand the place of Meister Eckhart's thought in Kierkegaard's thought system, it is important to explain Kierkegaard's understanding of faith, which he deepened by using religious themes. Passion has a very important position in Kierkegaard's understanding of faith. In this sense, the thinker sees his contemporaries as people who think excessively but lack passion. In particular, the human community that acts with a calculating mind and pragmatist concerns is the target of Kierkegaard's criticism. Kierkegaard attaches importance to the concept of passion because in the thinker's three stages of existence, namely the aesthetic, ethical and religious stages, passion expresses the last stage, union with God and the essence of mystical experience. In the first of these stages, the aesthetic stage, the person is dragged in pursuit of his pleasures and cannot yet become a person. In the second phase, the ethical phase, the difference between good and evil is distinguished, but a complete person is still not achieved. According to Kierkegaard, the most important phase that transforms a person into a self is the religious phase; Man can only be himself when he is united with God. For this reason, Kierkegaard's philosophy is closely related to a sincere and passionate devotion to God. In this context, reason is excluded from faith because it kills passion. For this reason, Kierkegaard drew attention to the paradoxical nature of faith, portrayed a kind of mystic who withdrew himself from the worldly, just like Eckhart, and developed a highly subjective understanding of religion by criticizing institutionalized religion. The aim of this study is to reveal the Eckhartian similarities in Kierkegaard's philosophy, which was influenced by Meister Eckhart's thought system. For this purpose, Meister Eckhart's understanding of faith will be conveyed and then Kierkegaard's understanding of faith will be presented. In the next section, the commonalities in the understanding of faith in the philosophies of both thinkers and Kierkegaard's reception of Eckhart in this context will be discussed. The aim of the study is to scrutinize the views of Søren Kierkegaard, one of the important thinkers of early modern philosophy, on the problem of the relationship between faith and reason, which has been discussed from many perspectives in the history of thought, and to examine how his views were influenced by the late medieval thinker Meister Eckhart, and to compare the views of the two thinkers. Concordantly, Meister Eckhart, the significant theologian, preacher, and mystical thinker of the late Middle Ages, developed a different understanding from the traditional religious views of his age and grounded his philosophical thoughts, especially the understanding of faith, by centering on the concept of isolation (abgeschiedenheit). According to Eckhart, the relationship that a person will establish with God is highly private and subjective. In addition to this, his understanding of faith based on the liberation of man from reason (intellectus) and will (voluntas), frees oneself from everything. Because, according to Eckhart, man can unite with God through a mystical experience only when he isolates himself from everything. Within this framework, it can be interpreted that Eckhart's understanding of faith is authentic and subjective in the context of the Christian theology of the time. The thinker objects to the dominant classical Christian understanding of his time and the institutionalized religion, and he considered one's relationship with God to be obtained through the grace of God. Another point that draws attention to Eckhart's understanding of faith is related to the thinker's belief that the mind cannot know God, that is, the paradoxical understanding he developed because of the fideistic point of view. In other words, according to Eckhart, man can attain the experience of becoming one with God only after he has let go of everything and is liberated. Therefore, the man who seeks God must withdraw not only from his own intellect and desires but from everything earthly. Because the thinker claims that man can become like a God by getting rid of all his attachments and by the grace of God. It can be said that such devotion has a mystical and highly internal nature. Eckhart, as a thinker who adopts negative theology, argues that it is impossible to say anything about God. For this reason, in the presence of God, the man should simply remain silent. According to the thinker, finding God should be desired only for the sake of knowing God. Because, according to Eckhart, if a man asks God for his blessing or the good that he will provide to man, this prevents man from loving God completely. For this reason, Eckhart says that every good or bad emotion, such as pain, sorrow, joy, and so on, holds equal value for the person who truly loves God. About five hundred years after Eckhart, in the nineteenth century, Danish thinker Søren Kierkegaard developed a similar understanding of faith to Eckhart, thanks to his teacher Hans Lassen Martensen's studies on Meister Eckhart, and built a religious-based philosophy, unlike the thinkers of his time. When explaining Kierkegaard's understanding of faith, which he deepened by using religious themes, to understand the place of Meister Eckhart's thought, it is an important issue to understand the philosophical system of Kierkegaard and the impact of Meister Eckhart's ideas on him. Kierkegaard attaches importance to the concept of passion because passion expresses the last stage of the thinker's three stages of existence, namely the aesthetic, ethical, and religious stages, respectively, the union with God and the essence of mystical experience. In the aesthetic phase, which is the first of these stages, the person is dragged after his pleasures and cannot become a person yet. In the second stage, the ethical stage, he distinguishes between good and bad, but he still has not been a complete person. According to Kierkegaard, the most important stage that turns a person into a self is the religious stage; The man can become himself only when he is united with God. For this reason, Kierkegaard's philosophy is closely related to a sincere and passionate devotion to God. In this context, the mind is left out of faith because it kills passion. For this reason, Kierkegaard drew attention to the paradoxical nature of faith and, like Eckhart, drew a kind of mystical portrait that withdraws itself from the earthly. Also, just like Eckhart, he developed a highly subjective understanding of religion by criticizing institutionalized religion. This study aims to reveal Eckhartian similarities with the philosophy of Kierkegaard, who was highly influenced by Meister Eckhart. For that purpose, first, Meister Eckhart's understanding of faith will be cited, and then Kierkegaard's understanding of faith will be revealed. In the next section, the commonality in the understanding of faith in the philosophies of both thinkers and Kierkegaard's reception of Eckhart in this context will be discussed.
Detaylı Başlık
Kierkegaard’ın İman Anlayışında Meister Eckhart Düşüncesinin Etkisi
