kerem eksen | Istanbul Technical University (original) (raw)

Articles in English by kerem eksen

Philosophy Today, 2019

The present study is an attempt to contribute to the debates on the relationship between spiritua... more The present study is an attempt to contribute to the debates on the relationship between spiritual traditions and Descartes's Meditations. Taking its point of departure from Pierre Hadot's inspiring studies, the article aims to describe the nature of the philosophical practice that Meditations embodies and to discuss the ways in which the work can be located in the history of the relations between theory and practice. To this end, Hadot's suggestion that Meditations should be read as a set of spiritual exercises will be criticized through an analysis of the nature of the "nonargumentative" or "experiential" level that is at work in Descartes's text. By showing that the transformation intended by Descartes does not reach beyond the level of cognition, it will be argued that even though Descartes makes use of certain key elements of the spiritualist literature, he belongs to the modern age of "philosophy without spirituality. "

Philosophy of Spirituality, ed. Heather Salazar & Roderick Nicholls, Brill, 2018 , 2018

Truth in Practice: Foucault’s Procedural Approach to Spirituality The main goal of the present s... more Truth in Practice: Foucault’s Procedural Approach to Spirituality

The main goal of the present study is to propose an appropriate criterion for differentiating between philosophical and spiritual enterprises. To this end, I first criticize what I call the “substantivist” conception of spirituality, which typically starts with certain fundamental presumptions about human nature and focuses primarily on the theoretical content of spiritual undertakings. Then I argue that the alternative “procedural” approach, which may be found in Michel Foucault’s later writings, leads to a better grasp of the discrepancy between philosophy and spirituality, since it gives the practical dimensions of both activities their due consideration. Here, I focus mainly on the way Foucault describes the scope and nature of the transformation inherent to spiritual and philosophical enquiries. Following Foucault, I put forth the argument that the transformation incited by spirituality stems from the material quality of the discursive (as well as other kinds of) activity, whereas this level of materiality is not an intrinsic element of philosophy.

Keywords: philosophy, spirituality, Michel Foucault, John Haldane, materiality, practice, transformation

The aim of the present paper is to reconsider Augustine’s role in the history of the concept of s... more The aim of the present paper is to reconsider Augustine’s role in the history of the concept of self. Our analysis is based on Charles Taylor's account of the Augustinian inward turn. Taylor argues that Augustine's project played a key role in the development of the modern notion of self, because the idea of "inward turn" led the thinker to give the idea of "self-reflexivity" a major position and made him the forefather of the Cartesian cogito. However, we think that it is inappropriate to take the notion of "self-reflexivity" as the essential component of the Augustinian inward turn. We argue that Augustine's real contribution to the history of the notion of self is to be found in the "private" character of his idea of inward turn, and not in the notion of self-reflexivity. Hence, by comparing the differences between Augustine's and Plotinus' notions of "inward turn," we show how Augustine broke with the tradition and put forward a new understanding of inward turn.

Problemos, 2009

The present paper aims at a reconsideration of the terminological distinction – postulated by emi... more The present paper aims at a reconsideration of the terminological distinction – postulated by eminent contemporary thinkers such as Alasdair MacIntyre and Bernard Williams – between “ethics” and “morality”. Although this distinction has not been settled as a standard*, there is no doubt that it incited fruitful debates relating to the contemporary issues of moral philosophy as well as the history of ethics. Julia Annas, to take one considerable example, presented a full-fledged criticism of the distinction and touched upon crucial questions**. In the following pages, we shall take the general argument of Annas as our starting-point, and reevaluate it with reference to a particular moment in the history of ideas, in order to shed light on the proposed distinction. To this end, we shall focus on the philosophy of Augustine, more precisely on his De Libero Arbitrio (On Free Choice), with the aim of comprehending the novelty of his contribution to the history of ethics. We shall show how Augustine, through his original usage of the concept of voluntas (will), reorganized the sphere of ethics and redefined the relationship between happiness (beatitudo) and right action. We will thereby illustrate that the ethics / morality distinction is highly illuminating for getting the real sense of this process of redefinition and reorganization, as well as the broader transformation that it triggered in the way human action will be problematized by later generations.

Articles in Turkish by kerem eksen

Felsefi Düşün, 2020

THE MUSICIAN UNDER THE CHALLENGE OF ‘FIERY AFFECTS’:THE CRITIQUE OF ROMANTICISM IN THE BIRTH OF T... more THE MUSICIAN UNDER THE CHALLENGE OF ‘FIERY AFFECTS’:THE CRITIQUE OF ROMANTICISM IN THE BIRTH OF TRAGEDY

Öz:
In most interpretations of Friedrich Nietzsche’s critique of the post-Euripidean art (and 19th century German music)in The Birth of Tragedy, the emphasis is on the problem of Socratic rationalism. Accordingly, the exceptionalequilibrium thatwasestablished betweenApollonianand Dionysian drives in tragedy was deeply disturbed by the negative impact of Socratic rationalism, with the outcomethat artistic creativity was deprived from its sources in nature.In this article, I will mainly focus on a second, largely neglected line of criticism that is in fact an integral part of the book’s critical framework, i.e. Nietzsche’s objectionagainst the erroneoususe of feelings in art. Taking departure from an excerpt by the pianist Glenn Gould (as well asfrom his musical attitude), I will put forward the problem of how the artist should relate to her feelings andI willanalyze Nietzsche’s take on this issue in the book. In such a context, the determining distinction in the article will be the one provided (without being elaborated) by Nietzsche between Romantic and Dionysian attitudes in music. Central to my analysis of this distinction will be Nietzsche’s views on lyric poetry (as a musical genre) and his presumptionto the effect that true art is possible only when the artist getsbeyond her individualsphere of experience.Based on this debate on lyric poetry, I will touchon Nietzsche’s criticism of 19th century music and his position on how the artists in general should relate to their feelings.

Kaygı. Uludağ Üniversitesi Fen-Edebiyat Fakültesi Felsefe Dergisi, 2020

Nietzsche and the Style of Character Abstract In one of the best-known passages of The Gay Sc... more Nietzsche and the Style of Character

Abstract
In one of the best-known passages of The Gay Science, Friedrich Nietzsche puts forth the proposition of “giving style to one’s character” and thereby implied that one of the key concepts in art may be highly functional within the context of ethical evaluation. The initial goal of the present article is to discuss the meanings and possible extensions of this suggestion. To this end, a number of passages in Nietzsche’s work relating to the nature of artistic creation will be interpreted, with a view to clarify how some degree of transitivity between ethical and aesthetic values may be conceived. This inquiry will be based on a distinction (inspired by Nietzsche) between stylistic and non-stylistic ways of giving unity to a given multiplicity. In order to come into terms with the specificity of the work of style, the idea of “a single taste” -which is one of the central components of Nietzsche’s conception of style- will be emphasized. The ensuing discussion will revolve around the questions of (1) how the “thousands of laws” that constitute a style can give rise to a single taste and (2) how the feeling of freedom can eventually overlap with the feeling of necessity. The last part of the article will inquire the possible ways in which the notion of style may contribute to one of the fundamental discussions in normative ethics, i.e. the discussion concerning the establishment of solid ethical criteria. It will be defended that, contrary to a first impression, the idea of style does not lead to arbitrariness and relativism.

Keywords: Friedrich Nietzsche, Style, Character, Taste, Work of Art.

Nietzsche’de Karakterin Üslubu
Öz
Friedrich Nietzsche Şen Bilim kitabının en iyi bilinen pasajlarından birinde, “karaktere üslup kazandırılması” önerisini gündeme getirmiş, böylelikle sanat düşüncesinin önemli bir kavramına etik değerlendirme bağlamında işlev kazandırılmasının yerinde olacağını ima etmiştir. Bu makalede öncelikle Nietzsche’nin bu önerisinin anlamı ve açılımları ele alınacak, bu amaçla düşünürün sanatsal yaratım sürecinin doğasına odaklandığı çeşitli pasajlar yorumlanarak etik ve estetik değerler arasındaki geçişkenliğin nasıl anlaşılabileceği araştırılacaktır. Bu araştırma bağlamında, Nietzsche’nin fikirlerinden esinle, belli bir çokluğa birlik kazandırmanın üslupsal olan ve olmayan tarzları arasında bir ayrım önerilecektir. Üslup çalışmasının kendine has işleyişini tarif edebilmek amacıyla, Nietzsche’nin üslup anlayışında merkezi konuma sahip olan “tek beğeni” fikri üzerinde durulacaktır. Takip eden tartışmada, nasıl olup da (1) bir üslubu oluşturan “binlerce yasa”nın tek bir beğeni ortaya çıkarmasının mümkün olabileceği ve (2) sanatsal yaratım sürecindeki özgürlük duygusunun bir zorunluluk duygusuyla örtüşür hale gelebileceği tartışılacaktır. Makalenin son kısmında, üslup kavramının normatif ahlak alanında merkezi öneme sahip olan “etik kıstas” meselesine nasıl bir açılım getirdiği ele alınacaktır. Burada, ilk bakışta sanılabileceğinin aksine, üslup fikrinin keyfilik ve görecilik sonuçlarına yol açmadığı savunulacaktır.

Anahtar Kelimeler: Friedrich Nietzsche, Üslup, Karakter, Beğeni, Sanat Eseri.

FelsefeLogos, 2016

Özet Michel Foucault’nun son dönem çalışmalarında ağırlık kazanan özneleşme süreçlerine dair araş... more Özet
Michel Foucault’nun son dönem çalışmalarında ağırlık kazanan özneleşme süreçlerine dair araştırmalar, düşünürün yetmişlerin sonlarındaki çalışmalarında geliştirdiği yönetim stratejileri soybiliminin ve çağdaş yönetimsellik tahlillerinin uzantısı niteliğindedir. Yönetimselliğin özellikle özneleşme süreçlerini merkeze alması, kişinin kendiyle kurduğu ilişkinin alanı olan etiğin başlı başına bir siyasi sorgulama alanı olarak belirmesine yol açmıştır. Benim bu yazıdaki amacım, Foucault’nun bu etik tartışma alanında zaman zaman değindiği bir gerilime, etik ile yasa-merkezli ahlak arasındaki gerilime odaklanmak ve bu iki alanın çağdaş yönetimsellik bağlamındaki rollerini incelemektir. Yazıda ilk etapta Foucault’nun yönetimsellik tahlilinin bazı unsurları kısaca gözden geçirilmekte, özellikle de bu çağdaş yönetim stratejisinin etik boyutlarının altı çizilmektedir. Sonrasında etik ile yasa-merkezli ahlak arasındaki fark konu edilmekte, bu amaçla düşünürün bu iki alan arasında yaptığı analitik bir ayrım incelenmektedir. Takip eden kısımda, Foucault’nun bu ayrım ve beraberinde gelen gerilim konusundaki birbirinden farklı gibi görünen -ancak son tahlilde benzer sayılabilecek olan- tespitleri incelenmektedir. Bu incelemeler neticesinde, Foucault’nun yönetimsellik bağlamında vurguyu genellikle etik alanına yaptığı doğru olsa da, düşünürün yasa-merkezli ahlaka da -genellikle göz ardı edilmiş olan- kilit bir rol atfettiği görülmektedir. Yasa-merkezli ahlak, her ne kadar günümüzde bir kriz içinde olsa da, eylemlerin sorunsallaştırıldığı “nesnel” bir bilgi alanı olarak çağdaş öznellik rejiminin iki dayanağından birini oluşturmaktadır.

Abstract
The analysis of processes of subjectivation, which came into the fore in Michel Foucault’s late works, may safely be seen as the prolongation of the genealogy of the strategies of government and the analyses of contemporary governmentality developed by the thinker in late 70’s. Since governmentality functions at the level of the processes of subjectivation, ethics, as the sphere of the self’s relationship to herself, becomes a subject of political problematization. My goal, in this article, is to focus on the tension between ethics and law-based morality -a tension that Foucault briefly considers in his discussions on ethics- and to analyze their respective roles in contemporary governmentality. I first present an overview of various elements in Foucault’s analysis of governmentality that relate to his discussion of ethics. Following this, I focus on the distinction between ethics and law-based morality, by presenting an analytical distinction that Foucault provides between the two spheres. This will be succeeded by the examination of Foucault’s apparently contradicting -but in the last analysis similar- positions regarding this distinction. These discussions will lead me to the following conclusion: Even though Foucault puts a special emphasis on the sphere of ethics in his account of governmentality, he clearly attributes a critical -but often neglected- role to law-based morality. Even though it is going through a serious crisis, law-based morality, understood as an area of “objective” knowledge in which human action is problematized, constitutes one of the two major components of the contemporary regime of subjectivity.

Michel Foucault, governmentality, özne, subjectivation, ethics, morality, law, norm

Felsefe Tartışmaları, 2016

Felsefenin pratik yaşamla ilişkisinin kopuk oluşu, günümüzde hem felsefecilerin, hem de felsefeci... more Felsefenin pratik yaşamla ilişkisinin kopuk oluşu, günümüzde hem felsefecilerin, hem de felsefeci olmayanların sıklıkla dile getirdikleri bir sorundur. Fransız felsefe tarihçisi Pierre Hadot’nun antikçağ felsefe okullarına dair sunduğu okuma, söz konusu sorunun tartışılmasında yeni açılımlar getirmiştir. Bu yazıda, Pierre Hadot’nun bu okuması, kilit nitelikteki “ruhani alıştırma” kavramından hareketle incelenecek, bu kavramın ifade ettiği teori - pratik ilişkisi anlayışı ile bu anlayışın temelinde yatan bazı varsayımlar çözümlenecektir. Yazıda, Hadot’nun anlatısında teori - pratik ilişkisinin “uygulama”dan ziyade “dönüşüm” kipinde kurulan bir ilişki olarak görüldüğü öne sürülecek, bu bağlamda özellikle söylemsel öğelerin insan varoluşu üzerindeki söylemsel olmayan dönüşümsel etkilerinin hangi mekanizmalarla ortaya çıktığı incelenecektir.

Nowadays, the lack of connection between philosophy and practical life is a problem that both philosophers and non-philosophers often express. The work of the French historian of philosophy Pierre Hadot brought new perspectives on the issue. In this paper, Hadot’s reading and its pivotal notion “spiritual exercises” will be studied, with a view to analyze the conception of theory-practice relations revealed through this concept, as well as the hypotheses underlying it. It will be argued that, in Hadot’s narrative, theory-practice relationship is conceived under the mode of “transformation” rather than “application”. On that basis, the mechanisms through which discursive elements lead to non-discursive transformative effects on human existence will be analyzed.

Conference Presentations by kerem eksen

Since the last quarter of the 20th century, “morality” as a theoretical enterprise revolving arou... more Since the last quarter of the 20th century, “morality” as a theoretical enterprise revolving around the notions of “law,” “obligation” and “universality” has been severely criticized in the Anglo-Saxon world, especially by the proponents of virtue ethics. However, with the exception of some remarkable figures -such as Alasdair MacIntyre- critics stayed reluctant to focus on the intricate relationship between the modern paradigm of morality and the cultural and political context in which it functions. In this paper, I will argue that Michel Foucault’s work provides us highly valuable conceptual tools through which “code-based morality” can be analyzed primarily as a central “dispositif” that regulates the modalities in which the self relates to the world, to others and to herself. To this end, I will mainly focus on the historical narrative that Foucault develops in his later lectures and show the extent to which certain key aspects of this genealogy may contribute to a criticism of the modern enterprise of morality. A prominent question will be whether the relatively neglected dichotomy between “philosophy” and “spirituality” that Foucault offers in his Hermeneutics of the Subject can be given a key place in this critical project.

Keywords: ethics, morality, philosophy, spirituality, self, ascesis, Hermeneutics of the Subject

“Restore to discourse its character as an event”: This goal, clearly announced by Foucault in his... more “Restore to discourse its character as an event”: This goal, clearly announced by Foucault in his inaugural lecture in Collège de France, constitutes one of the dominant themes of his Lectures on the Will to Know. Throughout a series of penetrating analyses on the multifarious transformations that occurred in Archaic and Classical Greece, Foucault shows us how the complex developments in Greek society led to the institution of a political and cultural sphere where the material character of discursive practices (or “discursive events”) were largely eliminated.
As Foucault says in various occasions throughout the courses, probably the most significant intellectual consequence of this historical process is the “invention” of the philosophical enterprise and, more precisely, what may be called the “Aristotelian model” of philosophizing. The dominant element in this model is the centrality of the “apophantic” discourse characterized by the effort to consider statements in isolation from their material aspects. In this sense, philosophy represents the most sophisticated aspect of the wider project of eliminating the “event” quality of discourses.
This rewarding insight concerning the formation and the development of the philosophical discourse will not find any detailed elaboration in the succeeding phases of Foucault’s career. This is partly due to the fact that the notion of discourse and its material aspects will cease to be the central concern for Foucault, especially with the over-growing dominance of the genealogical outlook in his works after 1970.
However, there is a key moment in Foucault’s later career where philosophy as a project comes under scrutiny. This time, the focus is not mainly on the nature of philosophical discourse, but rather on the connection between philosophy (as a project for reaching the truth) and ethics (as a relationship of the self to itself). Central to this analysis is the distinction between “spirituality” and “philosophy” that Foucault proposes in his 1982 lectures entitled Hermeneutics of the Subject (HS). This distinction, introduced in the very beginning of the lectures, provides a highly rewarding framework that one can easily relate to the various moments of Foucault’s excursions into Greek, Roman, Christian and modern ethics. By taking what he -somehow ironically- calls the “Cartesian moment” as the starting-point, Foucault presents a general historical narrative, according to which “spirituality” -i.e. the project of reaching the truth by transforming the subject in her overall mode of existence- loses centrality and is replaced by “philosophy”.
My paper will be an attempt to reconsider Foucault’s conception of “philosophy” in HS under the light shed by the account he presented in 1971. I will first focus on the main elements of the spirituality-philosophy dichotomy that Foucault presents in HS, with a special focus on the practical and material dimensions that characterize the project of spirituality. Following that, I will turn to the 1971 lectures and discuss the extent to which the “Aristotelian model” that Foucault presents and criticizes there overlaps with his conception of philosophy in HS. By discussing the central notions of the Lectures on the Will to Know such as “discursive event” and “materiality”, I will try to reach an elaborate understanding of Foucault’s historical narrative on philosophy.

Ph.D. Thesis by kerem eksen

Http Www Theses Fr, 2010

The aim of the present thesis is to reconsider the notion of “tragic error” from a philosophical ... more The aim of the present thesis is to reconsider the notion of “tragic error” from a philosophical perspective and with special reference to the thought of Augustine. Our starting-point has been the differences between the ways in which, on the one hand the classical Greek tragedians, and on the other the critics and dramatists of seventeenth and eighteenth centuries problematized human action. While Greek tragedy was based on what we have called an “objective” notion of error (focusing mainly on the objective changes that a given action creates in the universe), the Renaissance and post-Renaissance mentality adopted a “subject-centered” standpoint and a “subjective” notion of error (laying emphasis on the conditions and qualities of the agent of an act). Augustine is the main figure of our project, since his work sheds light on the shift from an “objective” conception of error to a “subjective” one. On the basis of this idea, we presented the two major dimensions of Augustine’s ethical theory: On the one hand, we focused on the “subjective” aspects of Augustine’s theory of sin, in order to see how he defines sin on an individual basis; and on the other hand, we studied the “objective” aspects of his theory, in order to see how Augustine relates the experience of error to an “objective” condition of fallibility. We have argued that these two aspects of Augustine’s thought lie at the basis of Renaissance tragedy and that, in this sense, tragic poets like Racine and Shakespeare are post-Augustinian.

Non-academic works by kerem eksen

de Nederlandse Boekengids, 2019

others by kerem eksen

Problemos

Straipsnyje analizuojama A. MacIntyre’o ir B. Williamso pasiūlyta terminologinė „etikos“ ir „mora... more Straipsnyje analizuojama A. MacIntyre’o ir B. Williamso pasiūlyta terminologinė „etikos“ ir „moralės“ skirtis. Ši skirtis kol kas netapo etikos diskurso standartu, tačiau ji neabejotinai paskatino vaisingus filosofų debatus svarstant šiuolaikinius moralės filosofijos klausimus, interpretuojant etikos istoriją. Julia Annas, viena ryškesnių šių debatų dalyvių, pateikė išsamią skirties kritiką. Straipsnyje kritiškai analizuojama Annas argumentacija, ji vertinama aptariant vieną idėjų istorijos momentą – Augustino Liberum Arbitrium – ir siekiama naujai pažvelgti į minėtą skirtį ir jos reikšmę etinio diskurso istorijoje. Straipsnyje teigiama, kad Augustino Liberum Arbitrium reikšmė etikos istorijoje sietina su perėjimu nuo graikiškosios etikos prie perspektyvos, siejamos su moralės terminu. Parodoma, kaip Augustinas, originaliai vartodamas valios (voluntas) sąvoką, perorganizavo etikos lauką, naujoviškai apibrėžė laimės (beatitudo) ir teisingo veiksmo sąryšį. Taip demonstruojama, kad eti...

Problemos

Philosophy Today, 2019

Philosophy of Spirituality, ed. Heather Salazar & Roderick Nicholls, Brill, 2018 , 2018

Truth in Practice: Foucault’s Procedural Approach to Spirituality The main goal of the present s... more Truth in Practice: Foucault’s Procedural Approach to Spirituality

Keywords: philosophy, spirituality, Michel Foucault, John Haldane, materiality, practice, transformation

Problemos, 2009

Felsefi Düşün, 2020

Kaygı. Uludağ Üniversitesi Fen-Edebiyat Fakültesi Felsefe Dergisi, 2020

Nietzsche and the Style of Character Abstract In one of the best-known passages of The Gay Sc... more Nietzsche and the Style of Character

Keywords: Friedrich Nietzsche, Style, Character, Taste, Work of Art.

Anahtar Kelimeler: Friedrich Nietzsche, Üslup, Karakter, Beğeni, Sanat Eseri.

FelsefeLogos, 2016

Michel Foucault, governmentality, özne, subjectivation, ethics, morality, law, norm

Felsefe Tartışmaları, 2016

Keywords: ethics, morality, philosophy, spirituality, self, ascesis, Hermeneutics of the Subject

Http Www Theses Fr, 2010

Problemos