Hilmi Ziya Ülken's Understanding of Religion

Abstract

                   Differentiations in the social structure that emerged with the scientific, economic and sociological developments in Europe also affected non-European geographies. The Ottoman Empire was also affected by these developments. Within the developments in Ottoman society that emerged with the modernization efforts, religion-society relations also underwent a differentiation. The process marked the beginning of a new era with the transition from the empire to the republic, a nation state. In this context, different scholars have put forward different views and studies on the religion-society relations within the newly emerging Republic of Turkey. Hilmi Ziya Ülken, as one of these scientists, is one of the important scientists who has worked on religion-society relations in Turkey. The subject of the study is to examine Hilmi Ziya Ülken's understanding of religion through the sociological context in

which the author lived. The aim of the study is to determine the understanding of religion of Ülken, who worked in the fields of psychology, sociology and philosophy in Turkey, and to try to establish the connection of this understanding with today.. As a result of the study, it was concluded that Ülken's thoughts on the understanding of religion varied according to the conditions of place, time and period. In addition, Ülken's positive attitude towards issues such as secularism and reform in religion showed that he also had a reformist and nationalist side.. This study utilized document analysis and document scanning model based on qualitative research method.