The Debate between Wilhelm Schmidt and Raffaele Pettazzoni about Monotheism and the Supreme Being

Year 2009, Volume: 50 Issue: 2, 113 - 152, 01.08.2009

Ramazan Adıbelli

https://doi.org/10.1501/Ilhfak_0000001003

Cited By: 3

Abstract

The Debate between Wilhelm Schmidt and Raffaele Pettazzoni about Monotheism and the Supreme Being In the 18th century the Enlightenment philosophers, who aimed to re-evaluate the validity of the traditional assumptions considered as invariable, submitted them to the rational criteria. They questioned religious issues and the Bible doctrine of primordial monotheism in terms of philosophical speculation. In the second half of the 19th century, the Science of Religions emerged as a discipline independently of philosophy and theology. After being evaluated from theological and philosophical perspectives, the issue of monotheism was reconsidered as a subject of the Science of Religions, which like other scientific disciplines was searching for its own methodology. However, the discussion on monotheism led to different results because of the lack of a common methodology. Although Schmidt and Pettazzoni claimed to approach the issues of monotheism and the Supreme Being in a scientific fashion, the very fact that they arrived at very different results raises some questions. For the basic nature of the scientific approach is that everyone processing the same data with the same method should obtain the same results. Therefore, if there is a conflicting situation, it must be originating from either the nature of the issue, or the researcher himself, or the method employed. The purpose of this study is to shed some light on the methodological problem in the Study of Religions through Schmidt‟s and Pettazzoni‟s views concerning monotheism and the Supreme Being and the criticisms they leveled against each other. Moreover, this essay provides some important clues about the ideological struggle which has been conducted in the West under the name of science and which has been hardly articulated

Keywords

Wilhelm Schmidt, Raffaele Pettazzoni, Andrew Lang, Monotheism, Polytheism

Monoteizm ve Yüce Varlık Konusunda Wilhelm Schmidt ile Raffaele Pettazzoni Arasındaki Tartışma

Abstract

18. yüzyılda, değişmez kabul edilen geleneksel varsayımların geçerliliğini rasyonel kriterlere tabi tutarak yeniden değerlendirmeyi amaçlayan Aydınlanma dönemi filozofları, dinî konuları ve bu bağlamda da ilk insanların dininin monoteizm olduğu yönündeki Kitabı Mukaddes öğretisini felsefî spekülasyon konusu hâline getirmişlerdir. 19. yüzyılın ikinci yarısında Din Bilimi, Felsefe ve Teolojiden bağımsız bir disiplin olarak kurumsallaşmaya başlamıştır. Monoteizm meselesi, teolojik ve felsefî perspektiften değerlendirildikten sonra her bilim dalı gibi kendine özgü bir metodoloji arayışı içerisine giren Din Bilimi bağlamında ele alınmış ve ortak bir metodoloji bulunmamasından dolayı da farklı sonuçlara ulaşılmıştır. Schmidt ile Pettazzoni‟nin monoteizm ve Yüce Varlık meselesini bilimsel bir yaklaşımla ele aldıklarını savunmalarına rağmen, neden çok farklı sonuçlar elde ettikleri hususu, bir takım soruları gündeme getirmektedir. Bilimsel yaklaşımın en temel niteliği, aynı verileri aynı metot ile işleyen herkesin aynı sonuçları elde etmesidir. Dolayısıyla ortada bir ihtilaf varsa, bu mesele ya konunun mahiyetinden, ya araştırmacının kendinden ya da takip edilen metottan kaynaklanmaktadır. Bu araştırmanın amacı, Schmidt ve Pettazzoni‟nin monoteizm ve Yüce Varlık konusundaki görüşleri ve birbirlerine yönelttikleri eleştiriler bağlamında Din Bilimi‟ndeki metodoloji problemine belirli bir açıdan ışık tutmaktır. Diğer taraftan bu araştırma, Batı‟da bilim adı altında yürütülen ve pek de gündeme getirilmeyen ideolojik mücadeleler hakkında önemli ipuçları sunmaktadır

Keywords

Wilhelm Schmidt, Raffaele Pettazzoni, Andrew Lang, Monoteizm

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