Yazılarım

 Keşke bu denemeyi Kafka'nın Babaya Mektup kitabını okuduktan sonra yazsaydım. Etraftan duyduğum bilgilerle Kafka'nın başarısız hissettiğini düşünerek yazmıştım. Yaşadığı duygusal buhramın derinliğinin farkındayken bu denemeyi yazsam belki daha iyi bir inceleme çıkabilirdi. Olsun, yine de yüzeysel müzeysel bir şeyler yazmışım.  Stuart Mill yüksek farkındalığın zehirli doğasını tartışırken ne kadar acı verirse versin kimsenin bu farkındalıktan vazgeçmeyeceğini öne sürüyor. Zira, bu farkındalık ne kadar acılara kapı açsa da, dünyaevi zevklerin ötesinde keyifler yaşamayı da sağlıyor-muş. Belki de bu yüzden Kafka acılara göğüs görelim diyor, belki de bu yüzden bu içsel buhramı onu depresyone sürüklese de o acıya sıkı sıkı sarılıyor. Belki de bu yüzden Dostoyevski farkındalığın zehirli olduğunu hemen söyledikten sonra onu övmeye başlıyor (Yer Altından Notlar p.14).          Kafka, in one of his writings, proposes that " I think we ought to read onl...

           In the “Triumph of Life”, death and life as the title of the poem suggests are two major themes. However, the question of what life is never explained. In the poem we see well-known thinkers and people who made unprecedented efforts in their lifetime such as Plato and Ceaser. Despite their success and fame, none conquered death. We see the same image in “Paradise Lost”. Michael is ordered to explain what will happen to human-kind and in his speech, we see the earth being destroyed. Description of what will happen to Earth reflects the process of life. People will die and born, and in the great scheme of things, this process cannot be obscured. Therefore, in both Poems, it is not necessary to understand what life is as it is not changeable, in order words, life is stationary. As a result, the question of what life is, becomes unanswerable, even Michael states that human sense cannot understand him. Ultimately, both poems force us to ask the q...

  Men need guidance to act virtuously and Aquinas suggests that this guidance should be in the form of human laws. However, I think laws only force people to act virtuously by threatening them with punishments. People act virtuously not because they think it is the right thing to do so but to avoid punishments. On the other hand, through education people can act virtuously even if there is no one to punish them.   Aquinas suggests that there is an eternal law that governs everything. Out of this law, two more types of laws are born: natural and divine. Aquinas says: “participation of the rational creature in the eternal law is called the natural law” (86) According to Aquinas we can use our reasoning to participate in the eternal law. Through this participation, we can understand what is right and wrong, good and bad. He backs up his claim by pointing out that everything is subjected to eternal law to some degree but “rational creatures are subject to Divine providence in a ...

  One argument that Aquinas suggests that is most prominent and important is that outward and inward actions are very hard to discern by human perception. We cannot possibly understand the inner intentions of an individual. For instance, there is a child suffering from a very painful ailment that has no cure. His father is aware that the pain will get worse and worse, so there is nothing that can be done to save the child or mitigate the pain. His inner disposition orders him to kill the child to save him from the excruciating pain that awaits him. According to Aquinas “man cannot judge inward acts, which are concealed, but only outward wards, which are apparent and yet the perfection of virtue requires that man conduct himself rightly in acts of both kinds” (p.90) Therefore, if that father was to be seen by a police when he was murdering his own kin, that police would find him guilty not definilty not virtuous. Even if his inward intention is valid, his outward intention renders h...

  Crito, a friend of Socrates, resents the fact that Socrates is wrongly sentenced to death. He believes that the just action to take would be helping Socrates escape the confinement because of two prominent reasons: By not helping Socrates, Crito is doing injustice and because of that he can face disapproval from other people. Second, by accepting his fatal punishment Socrates is depriving his family and friends of his company and education. To answer this, Socrates puts forward the notion that there is a covenant between the citizen and the state. That covenant should be honored because the state begets the citizen. Socrates suggests that retaliation is never just and it is the premise on which he builds his argument pertinent to Socratic citizenship. He says that by going against the laws and evading the punishments you nullify the power of the court and render it insignificant (50b). This is according to Socrates, nothing different than destroying the state. So, should an ind...

  Aristotle defines the citizen as someone directly contributing to the state. On the other hand, according to Aristotle because states can differ, the set of actions determining whether an individual is a good citizen or not can also change making the definition of a good citizen depending on the state. Aristotle says the virtue of a citizen must be suited to his constitution. Consequently, if indeed there are several kinds of constitution, it is clear that there cannot be a single virtue that is -the complete virtue--of a good citizen (p.179). To put it simply, what constitutes good alters accordingly to the state and consequently, the virtue of a good citizen also changes. This is important to understand because when Aristotle contemplates on the question whether workers should be citizens, he implies asking whether their contribution will be beneficial to the state. The answer to that question is tricky because, Aristotle finds mechanics to be vital to the city but not because ...

             Don Quixote, namely Quesada, is delusional. He presents himself as a noble knight although, he is not a knight and it is impossible to encounter a knight in the plot’s current time. When this is noticed by his niece, a barber, a priest and a housekeeper they decide to burn the books in order to cure Quixote. However the barber and the priest find some of the books worth keeping and hence they decide to “banish” them or imprison them by building a wall to “ close the room where he had kept his books ” (p.64) Here the author, Cervantes creates a personification of the mentioned books in the pursuit of forming a satire for church and its corruption.          The priest claims that he will hold inquisitions over the books which is absurd and unnecessary. What is more absurd and demonstrates the priest’s inconsistency is his method of decreeing. He decrees the books according to the aut...

  In his essay ‘The Metropolis and Mental Life’, Georg Simmel suggests that the modern life of the metropolis forces urban dwellers to forge an intellectualistic perception towards their environment. Simmel precisely uses the term intellectualistic to imply that these individuals are required to have an analytic and rational mindset to navigate the city. In Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘Man of the Crowd,’ the narrator sits in a coffee and observes various individuals in a modern city that is similar to Simmel’s metropolis. In the narrative’s observations, we see a cold and insensitive manner in which the individuals lose their uniqueness.  In Gogol’s ‘Nevsky Prospect’, the narrative reflects on a crowded city with various people from various backgrounds which adds complexity and chaos to it. In both stories, the narratives have a trace of Simmel’s intellectual character. However, I will argue that in both stories people that we see from narratives’ points of view are depicted to h...

    Posthumanism Posthumanism approaches people with heavy skepticism and attempts to renavigate and redefine people’s place in modern society which is altered and shaped according to technological advancements. Simply put, posthumanism tries to reconceive humans. Ferrendo argues that “ In order to conceive a posthumanist approach, it is first necessary to reflect on the meaning of the notion of the human, both by investigating on the technologies of the self historically developed by the human “others” (p.4). Ferrendo’s contemplation on posthumanism and humanism exhibits that posthumanism is an attempt to unveil the possibility of an idea beyond humanism. This however does not necessarily debunk humanism; it opens a new window to analyze and peruse the sociological and psychological place of human consciousness in modern society.  Posthumanism is heavily influenced by technological and political advances in recent years. As people become more civilized, they start ...

     Owen in his ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ and Pound in his translation of ‘Song of the Bowmen of Shu’ depict a realistic image of war. They show the ugliness and hardship the war embodies. In Owen’s poetry the technological advancements in war is present and plays a huge role in his imagery. In Pound’s translation, the soldiers are exhausted with the relentless pace of war that forces soldiers to fight. In this essay, I will compare and contrast two poems and argue that Owen’s poem portrays a realistic image of war to debunk the assumption that the war is glorifying whereas Pound’s translation of ‘Song of the bowmen of Shu’ presents soldiers’ insight in war to show that soldiers are undervalued and not appreciated.       Owen with his vivid depiction of the horrors of war criticizes the war propaganda used to motivate soldiers and draws a realistic image of war suggesting that it is not as glorifying as it is promised. The first two lines welcom...

       Achebe in  Things Fall Apart  introduces Igbo culture and society with his depiction of Umuofia . The reserved nature of Igbo society lays its foundation on religion and traditions. Mostly traditions and religion highlight men’s superiority over women however Igbo culture that promotes masculinity puts pressure on both genders. In this essay, I shall analyze how both genders are represented in Igbo society and I will argue that both genders suffer from the oppressive masculinity that restricts characters to express themselves in the form of ideas or emotions.        The masculinity in Umuofia suppresses women portraying them to be insignificant and impotent which emphasizes the superiority of men. Also, this depiction of women in Igbo society masks their value obstructing a healthy relationship between the two genders. Masculinity in Umuofia represents power. Okonkwo despises his father because he does not fi...

     In George Eliot’s Silas Marner the narrative focuses on the character’s experience to project realistic imagery of what happens. The type of narrative allows readers to sympathize with the characters and understand their inner worlds. The plot structure also compliments the novel’s ability to show the main character’s cognitive thinking and consciousness. The narrative changes its focus to, later on, highlight the correlation between characters further deepening and enriching the story and character development. The story initially focuses on Silas Marner and how he is banished from Lantern Yard because of an unjust accusation and then it dwells on Marner’s obsession with money. In this essay, I will analyze Marner’s obsession with hoarding money and I will suggest that hoarding money grants him an escape from society and lastly it opens a new aspect of individualistic life.        Hoarding money presents Marner the ability to alienate ...