Standing out with its high academic qualifications, Ibn Haldun University is a research-oriented university. Following this purpose, our department focuses on Western, Islamic, and Turkish Philosophy; and contemporary philosophical problems such as ethics, animal rights, climate crisis, feminism, and artificial intelligence. Our department, which aims to train academicians by putting postgraduate education at the center, provides education to its distinguished academicians and offers merit-based (outstanding achievement), full scholarship, and education scholarship opportunities to prominent students. Students from all over the world contribute to the rich cultural atmosphere.
With the highest rate of international students in Turkey, Ibn Haldun University, with its Philosophy Master's Program, examines both Western and Islamic philosophy, taking into account their historical contexts and interactions, rather than a Eurocentric history of philosophy, and gives its students a universal perspective.
Program Objectives:
Ibn Haldun University Philosophy Department, Master's program proposes a pluralistic program with lessons from the traditions of Western philosophy, based on Ancient, Islamic, Turkish, and Continental Europe. The program covers current issues such as animal rights, climate crisis, artificial intelligence, ethics, and feminism. It aims to give philosophical formation according to this pluralistic program structure. In addition, students can specialize in the field they want with their chosen courses. Ibn Haldun University Master's program is considered a preliminary stage of the doctoral program planned to be launched in the future. With its versatile formation, the program considers it among its aims to train academicians who can examine the tradition of Islamic philosophy as a historical phenomenon and in the context of contemporary philosophy. In addition, the department develops its strategy on the axis of philosophy of science.
Scope of the Program:
The program brings together theories and perspectives that emerged in the history of philosophy in a meaningful way, taking into account classical and modern discussions. In this framework, the curriculum has gained rich content with courses on Turkish thought and philosophy, Continental European philosophy, especially philosophy of science, covering the Ancient Age, Islamic philosophy, Seljuk, Ottoman, and Republican periods. The fields in which the students who will graduate from the program with a Philosophy Master's degree will gain knowledge and skills can be listed as follows:
• History of Philosophy
• Modern Philosophy
• Continental Philosophy
• Phenomenology
• Islamic Philosophy
• Metaphysics
• Classical Turkish Thought
• Contemporary Turkish Thought
• Philosophy of science
• Ethics
• Current Philosophical Issues
Head of The Department:
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Enis Doko
Application Requirements:
Visit the MA Programs Application Requirements page.
Teaching Staff:
Visit the department page for Teaching Staff.
Curriculum:
Visit the curriculum page.
This program may particularly be useful for:
PHIL 501 Research Methods and Publication Ethics
This course aims at providing students a helpful guide for analysing philosophical texts. The schedule includes finding a research topic, read, understand and analyse the texts; evaluate the arguments and adopt a critical approach to them. With the necessary tools gathered by these philosophical evaluations, students are encouraged to construct their own arguments and evaluate each other’s arguments in class. Students are required to present their proposals and 1 research papers in class, also subject to criticism.
PHIL 500 Seminar
This course aims to widen students’ perception and awareness of topics of interest to philosophy through seminars offered by faculty, graduating thesis students, and guests from academia. Each graduate student who prepares to defend her/his thesis is expected to give a seminar related to his/her thesis topic.
PHIL 510 Islamic Philosophy I: Advanced Course
This course studies the religious and intellectual environment that led to the flourishing of Islamic Philosophical systems in the first period of the History of Islamic Philosophy (from the first Kalam Discussions to the time of Ghazali). First of all, the course explores the intellectual and philosophical systems (i.e. Hermetism, Gnosticism, Neo-Platonism) that were seen in the lands where Islam spread immediately after its emergence in the 9th century.
The main themes on which that course focuses are the nature of the God-universe and body-soul relations; questions such as: What do we mean by the ultimate happiness? How do we achieve that happiness on Earth? and Is the afterlife and its realization of a virtuous society and an ideal state possible?
PHIL 587 Philosophy of Civilisation
This course explores the meaning of civilization and aims to describe basic concepts of civilizations and to show the relationship between state and civilization. It also investigates significant civilizations such as Chine, Ancient Greece, Roma, Medieval Christian Europe, Islamic and New Age European Civilization.
The main aim of the course to look at the philosophical implications of artificial intelligence. Course will consider the arguments about the possibility of creating artificial intelligence, as well as the metaphysical, ethical and social implications of human interaction with intelligent machines. Some of the question we will tackle are: Could a computer have a mind? What kind of machine would this be? Exactly what do we mean by 'mind' anyway? Could computers have free will or moral responsibility? The course will be interdisciplinary covering topics from Philosophy, Neuroscience, Psychology, Computer Science, and Linguistics. Hence can be of wider interest.
PHIL 586 Philosophy of Language: Advanced Course
This course consists of the basic subject of philosophy of language science such as theories of meaning, the science of meaning, language knowledge, the evolution of language, the classification of languages.
PHIL 546 Plotinus
In this course, we will focus on the essential content of Neoplatonist thought and examine central problems of its late ancient and early medieval interpretations. We will read fundamental parts of Enneads, followed by some fragments of Proclus and Porphyry. Finally, we will discuss how the Neoplatonist traditions transmitted into the early religious thought and its legacy in the medieval intellectual traditions.
PHIL 590 Political Philosopy: Advanced Course
In this advanced course of Political Philosophy students can expect to find fundamental concepts of political thinking in detailed and deepened form. The concepts under examination and criticizm will be mostly from modernity and western thought – an era of enormous progression and novelty –and contemporary period to compare, contrast and integrate with. The issues/concepts to be scrutinized will be: Authority, state, justice, rights, freedom, equality, and democracy.
PHIL 560 Medieval Christian philosophy
This course includes the analysis of the thoughts and works of two philosophers who were influential in the formation process of Christian thought. In this direction, Augustine, who determined the main direction of early Christian thought, and Thomas, one of the most important syntheses of philosophy-theology interaction in the high Middle Ages, will be the subject. After a general introduction to the life and works of the thinkers, certain subjects will be centered and the texts related to these subjects will be analyzed.
PHIL 594 Issues in Science and Religion
This course focuses on relation between Modern Science and Islam. We present important contemporary scientific theories such as Special and General Theory of Relativity, Quantum Theory, Big Bang Theory, Theory of Evolution, Modern Neurology. Than we evaluate and discuss some important implications of these theories for theistic religions and Islam specifically. Our course also aims to outline possible approaches to the relation between science and religion.
PHIL 532 Islamic Philosophy II: Advanced Course
This course explores the evolution of Islamic Philosophy from Al-Ghazali, who represents different faces of Islamic Thought, until the Emergence of the Ottoman Philosophical-Scientific tradition. Besides the major falasifa who is very well known (al-Ghazali, Andalusian philosophers like Ibn Tufail, Ibn Rushd and Ibn Khaldun), special attention will be given to the philosophical traditions that emerged after the 13th century (Fakhruddin Rhazi, Suhreverdi (Illumination School), Davud el-Kayseri (Ottoman Philosophy). A selection of representative texts in the English translation will be read and commented on. The main focus of the course will be on the soul, the theory of knowledge, metaphysics and religious philosophy.
PHIL 548 Nietzsche
This course aims to be a course on Nietzsche who can be regarded as one of the critical modern philosophers. Departing from his famous book on ethics, namely, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, this course will try to comprehend the philosophy of Nietzsche. In its general look, the philosophy of Nietzsche may be seen as philosophy based on fragments and aphorisms; even his philosophy can be thought in some aspects as not a philosophy but literature. But this course will try to understand the philosophy of Nietzsche not as literature but as a new kind of philosophy. In general, this course will focus on the concepts of will to power, nihilism, ‘overman’ and ethics.
PHIL 573 Heidegger
This course aims to be a course on Heidegger who is the most famous one of the critical modern philosophers. Departing from his famous book, namely, Being and Time, this course will try to comprehend the new way of pilosophy-making in Heidegger. In its general look, the philosopy of Heidegger may be seen as complicated and hard kind of philosophy; but this course will try to depict the ground on which the hiedeggerian philosopy stands. That is to say, Heidegger can be understood within his critics aganist the modern philosophy, and any discussion on the philosophy of Heidegger must regard its confrontation with the modern philosophy and modernity. Thus, this course will disscuss the hiedegerian philosophy within its confrontation with modern philosophy and intends to make a comparative study for a better comprehension of heideggerian philosopphy.
PHIL 566 Hegel
This course aims to be a course on a philosopher who is the most systematic and famous representative of the tradition of ‘German idealism’, namely on Hegel. In this course the philosophy of Hegel will be thought in its general outline but the main focus of the course will depart from his famous book named as ‘Phenomenology of the Sprit’. On the basis of that book, the adventure of the consciousness will be discussed in Hegelian system. In that manner, the course aims to make deep discussions on Hegelian constitution of the consciousness and its relations with the other members of ‘German idealism’. That is to say, the course will try to make a comparative discussion on the constitution and adventure of the consciousness.
PHIL 576 German Idealism
This course aims to be a course on the philosophers who belongs to the philosophic tradition named as ‘German idealism’ in general. These philosophers are Kant, Ficthe, Schelling and Hegel. Even if all this philosophers will be studied, the main emphasis will be on Kant and Hegel. Kant and Hegel will be thought as the two opposite philosophers of German idealism; and Ficthe and Schelling as the other two who constitute the interval between these opposites. In this manner, the course will try to make a deep discussion on the philosophies of Kant and Hegel. Thus, it will be a comparative study on German idealism in general and on Kant and Hegel in particular
PHIL 557 Levinas
This course aims to be a course on Emmanuel Levinas who can be accepted as one of the most influential figures of the contemporary philosophy. Especially the concept of ‘other’, as his conceptualization, became a fundamental and constructive concept not only for philosophy but also for all other so-called ‘social sciences’. In this course; we will try to understand the philosophy of Levinas departing from his main book ‘Totality and Infinity’. Following the book, we will discuss the concepts of infinity, ethics, other etc. Considering that his philosophy has a serious critique against Hegel and Heidegger; our course will try to understand Levinas within a comparison with Hegel and Heidegger.