An Investigation on the Basic Views of Stoa Philosophy

Abstract

Stoicism is a school of philosophy founded by Zenon of Cyprus, which lived between the years 336 to264 BC.Zenon, Kleanthes, Khrysippos, Panaitios, Seneca, Epiktetos and Marcus Aurelius are important representatives of the Stoa philosophy.According to the school, philosophy is the love of wisdom, the quest for wisdom.Philosophy's wisdom is the knowledge of sacred and human things. The Zenon philosophy is divided into three parts: first the logic that teaches the rules of reasoning, second, physics teaching the truth of the entities in the universe, and thirdly, the morality that teaches the principles of virtuous life. According to Stoics, in terms of existence, human being, he is a part of the nature he lives in and he carries a bit of it from him. The Nature is “Macro Cosmos” to human and human is “micro cosmos” to the nature.
Human is a microcosm that contains both the principles and elements of the macro cosmos. As nature has two principles, similarly man has two principles: These principles are the body as a principle and a material principle of causal principle. The body forms our side that is common to animals and is the principle of lack of perception in essence. As for the soul, it is nothing but the divine breath that settles in our bodies. The power and nature of our divine part consists of two parts: A part of the human being somehow seized the desire, the other part is the mind that teaches what to do and what to avoid. Mind is the nature of man. The greatest favor of man is to behave according to the divine part.
Stoa philosophy is a practical philosophy, and it has a moral philosophy at its center. The essence of Stoic morality is constituted by questions such as “ What is the best for people, what is bad?”, “What are the principles that could freed people from their troubles, fears, passions and from their obstacles?”, “Is there a measure of good and bad?”, “What to do / how to live to achieve the highest quality in life?” On the other hand, just like philosophy, morality also has subdivisions in itself. Without a doubt, “living in accordance with nature” is of great importance in this philosophy. Because according to stoic philosophers, the measure of good and evil is nature. Being happy depends on living in accordance with nature. Our desires and passions against the nature is the cause of unhappiness. In this case, the person looking for happiness should live in nature. So, what is life appropriate for nature? There is no common understanding among Stoic philosophers; there are different opinions: For example, according to Marcus Aurelius, the meaning of life appropriate to nature is to know, recognize and submit to the will of the sacred nature. In the same way, respect for yourself, people and living beings. According to Cicero, according to nature first of all to protect himself, his life and body; rejecting everything that seems to harm itself; the instinct to search and supply the things that are necessary for life. The same nature has connected man to human beings in the power of reason, in language and in life; Love has been given to humans since birth. He also considered the role of perseverance, moderation, moderation, and shame. Again nature has taught us not to be inconsiderate in our behavior towards people. In this way, the meaning of living according to nature means primarily to preserve and maintain our own existence and at the same time to be virtuous at all times, choosing the things that do not conflict with virtue. Living in accordance with nature in Seneca, is to obey the will of God, and to follow him from heart. Living in accordance with nature means to take care of ourselves. Since nature creates us clean and free, desire, passion, fear, hope and greed are not the slave of people, events and life. It is to despite and outrage the gold, the silver and everything we have been crushed and chewed for, not because they are unnecessary, but also because they are empty; and instead, to gravitate to real prosperities and to learn to content oneself. Not hurting someone else, not hurting. To be happy with the joy of everyone, to grieve with grief. The meaning of life appropriate to nature in Epiktetos is to try to change our desires rather than to change the order of nature; all of them to the big cycle and to leave the fate. Moreover, we are used to believing that nothing is possible within our own power except for our thoughts, and that everything we cannot overcome after doing our best for us is absolutely impossible for us. Again, to protect and protect what belongs to us; it is to turn away from our desire for things under the rule of others and to turn to things that are permanent and inherently free. Life suitable for nature means living like a journey. According to the philosophy of Stoa, living in harmony with the laws of nature means not living with passion. In such a life there is peace and tranquility. Crying, grieving, jealousy, in short, frustration and unhappiness is the punishment of acting out against nature. As a result, the Stoics established a close connection between cosmology and morality and tried to overcome the problems of moral philosophy with this relationship. They suggested that problems related morality can be solved by understanding the nature of existence and studying the secrets of nature.

Keywords

• History of Philosophy,Stoa Philosophy,Morality

Stoa Felsefesinin Temel Görüşleri Üzerine Bir İnceleme

Abstract

Stoacılık, milattan önce 336–264 yılları arasında yaşamış olan Kıbrıslı Zenon tarafından kurulmuş felsefe okuludur. Okula göre felsefe, bilgelik aşkı, bilgelik arayışıdır. Felsefenin yöneldiği bilgelik ise kutsal ve insani şeylerin bilgisidir. Zenon felsefeyi üç bölüme ayırmıştır: önce usa vurma kurallarını öğreten mantık, ikinci olarak kâinattaki varlıkların hakikatini öğreten fizik ve üçüncü olarak erdemli yaşamın ilkelerini öğreten ahlak. Stoa felsefesi, ahlakı felsefenin merkezine alan pratik bir felsefedir. Bu felsefeye göre erek, doğaya uygun yaşamdır. Doğa’ya uygun yaşam ise kutsal doğayı bilmek, tanımak ve onun iradesine boyun eğmektir. Zenon, Kleanthes, Khrysippos, Panaitios, Seneca, Epiktetos ve Marcus Aurelius, Stoa felsefesinin önemli temsilcilerindendir. Bu yazı, ana hatlarıyla Stoa felsefesi üzerine bir incelemedir. Yazıda Stoalı filozofların varlığın hakikatine ve insanın faziletine ilişkin temel görüşleri incelenmiştir. Araştırma sonuçlarına göre Zenon’dan beri Stoalı filozoflar, varlığın tanrısal olduğunu, her tarafında düzen, uyum ve iyiliğin hüküm sürdüğünü, her şeyin tanrısal bilgeliğe ve inayete uygun olarak gerçekleştiği, ayrıca insanın tanrısal akıldan pay aldığı, böylece doğanın yasalarına uygun olarak yaşamak suretiyle erdemli ve mutlu olabileceğini savunmuşlardır. Stoalı filozoflar genel olarak ahlak üzerine söz etmişler ve bu görüşlerini fiziğe (metafizikle) dayanarak temellendirmeye çalışmışlardır. Stoacılığın popüler yanı idealist ahlakıdır. Stoalılar ahlak anlayışları ile düşünce dünyasını etkilemişlerdir. Hangi filozofların Stoacı ahlaktan etkilendiği ayrı bir konudur; dolayısıyla farklı bir araştırmayı gerektirir. Fakat batıda Montaigne ve Descartes’in doğuda Kindi’nin Stoacı ahlaktan etkilendiklerini söylemek iddialı bir yargı değildir.

Keywords

• Felsefe Tarihi,Stoa felsefesi,Ahlak

References

1. KAYNAKÇAARSLAN, Ahmet. (2016). İlkçağ Felsefe Tarihi. İstanbul: İstanbul Üniversitesi Yayınları.AURELIUS, Marcus. (2016). Düşünceler. İstanbul: Yapı kredi Yayınları.BOLAY, Süleyman Hayri. (2011). Yaşayan Felsefe. Ankara: Otto.CEVİZCİ, Ahmet. (2013). Felsefe Sözlüğü. İstanbul: Paradigma Yayıncılık.CİCERO. (2013). Yükümlülük Üzerine. İstanbul: Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları. ÇAPAK, İbrahim.(2015). Stoa Felsefesi ve İslam Düşüncesine Etkisi. Yakın Doğu Üniversitesi İslam Tetkikleri Merkezi Dergisi. 1(2), 219-227.ÇAPAK, İbrahim. (2015). Kıbrıslı Zenon ve Stoa Okulu. Yakın Doğu Üniversitesi İslam Tetkikleri Merkezi Dergisi. 1(1), 9-20.DESCARTES. (2015). Metot Üzerine Konuşma. İstanbul: Paradigma Yayıncılık.EPİKTETOS. (2013). Söylevler. Ankara: Divan.EPİKTETOS. (1999). Düşünceler ve Sohbetler. Ankara: Kültür Bakanlığı Yayınları.GÖKBERK, Macit. (1985). Felsefe Tarihi. İstanbul: Remzi Kitapevi.HADOT, Pierre. (2011). İlkçağ Felsefesi Nedir? Ankara: Dost Kitapevi Yayınları.HANÇERLİOĞLU, Orhan. (2012). Düşünce Tarihi. İstanbul: Remzi Kitapevi.İZZET, Mehmed. (1913/1914). Eski Yunan’da Ahlakî Felsefe: Zenon ve Mu’akkibleri, İstanbul: Türk Bilgi Derneği, Bilgi Mecmuası. 1(2), 135-143.
2. LAERTIOS, Diogenes. (2013). Ünlü Filozofların Yaşamları ve Öğretileri. İstanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları.MONTAİGNE. (2011). Denemeler, İstanbul: Lacivert Yayıncılık.SENECA. (1999). Ahlaki Mektuplar, Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu.SENECA. (2009). Tanrısal Öngörü, İstanbul: Şule Yayınları.SENECA, (2015). Hoşgörü Üzerine, Ruh Dinginliği Üzerine. Ankara: Doğubatı Yayınları.TOPAKKAYA, Arslan. (2009/1). Stoa Felsefesinin Temel Kavramları. Felsefe Dünyası. (49), 56-69.
3. WEBER, Alfred. (1992). Felsefe Tarihi, İstanbul: Sosyal Yayınlar.