Ethics Between the Foundress of the Good and the Guidance of Value Cover Image

İyi’nin Kuruculuğu ile Değer’in Rehberliği Arasında Ahlak
Ethics Between the Foundress of the Good and the Guidance of Value

Author(s): Emrullah Kılıç
Subject(s): Ethics / Practical Philosophy, Theology and Religion, Existentialism, Structuralism and Post-Structuralism
Published by: Anadolu İlahiyat Akademisi
Keywords: Philosophy; Ethic; Good; Value; Heidegger; Deconstruction;

Summary/Abstract: The “Good” related to the ethical life is determined by the constitutive and prescriptive reason/will in the traditional life. The logo-centric good includes predetermined rules and systems. This kind of understanding can be read as a reflection of the traditional world and Western existence (presence) metaphysics. The good that we refer to as “value” in modern times, instead of following determinations and goals of a static center, aims to guide individuals with respect to the moral life. Thus, in the pre-modern traditio-nal world, we can say that the moral system, which includes political determinations, was formed through theoretical production and aimed at the good, which reflects the pre-determined set of rules and order. In the modern period, with the abandonment of teleological understanding of the universe, the good has left its place to the value. This resembles the foundation for the transition to the value that is human good by breaking away from the metaphysically determined ethical good in the sense of certain and unc-hangeable truth. Thus, the field of morality is has ceased to be a theological or metaphy-sical measure and subject outside of us, has turned into the field of contingency determi-ned by human beings’ own experience and evaluations of transcendence. In this paper, values especially as in Heidegger’s thought will be examined as the dimen-sion of Dasein’s own world and temporality. In this framework, values are based on ontological truth which represents the meaning of being instead of ontic truth. With this new situation, meaning and the good are sought inside of the “human being” or “this world” instead of “Being”. Values are determined as functional good as a result of exis-tential investigations instead of objective categorical investigations. Through this deter-mination, values can be read as a deconstruction of the good. Thus, Heidegger offers distinctive existence and value. For Heidegger who aims to open the closedness of the being, truth is not an ultimate end or a decision, but an activity or haunt. The new truth that created by human’s own evaluations, inclinations, concerns, and value with existen-ce are discovered phenomenologically. With this situation, which can be read as Dasein’s expansion, the agent is guided on how to approach things in order to make themselves visible. Heidegger by this new foundation phenomenologically appropriates ancient un-derstanding of truth instead of neglecting it. Thus, the individual's discovery of values turns into his/her heads towards Dasein’s call and his/her interest over existing ones, instead of abstract metaphysical or theological truths. For Heidegger, ethics is not something that is added later to a prefound theoretical sub-ject. This situation doesn’t reflect Dasein’s authentic existence. Because, for him, the character of the self is not an object of selfdom that is imposed and unchanged. Selfdom can be realized by breaking free from impositions and opening the closure and re-founding the world through phenomenal discovery. Hence, he aims to take a new posi-tion toward life and produce new values. The value that represents Dasein’s one-time existence (existenz) and also truth, grounds on the practical relationship that things get involved to reveal themselves their everyday encounter with the world rather than the set of rules imposed by certain structure of understanding. The value that reflects emer-gence of being through human experience, includes existential determinations that are based on a concrete individual rather than an abstract humanity and separate the hu-man from everything as distinct from the good. By this means, the value in Heidegger can be read as a dynamic way of life that can be described as “letting-be”. In our paper, we subjected Heidegger’s understanding of morality to a new reading, as a value that offers new discoveries to the individual and aims to guide him/her, - unlike the traditional good based on the metaphysics of existence - distinctly from traditional good based on Western’s existence metaphysics. It is seen that the studies that separate good and value are insufficient in our country. Considering this situation, we hope that our study on Heidegger will contribute to the subject by bringing a new perspective in terms of the maturity that the value issue needs.

  • Issue Year: 2021
  • Issue No: 43
  • Page Range: 167-182
  • Page Count: 16
  • Language: Turkish