Eric Voegelin: The Political Restoration of the Political Order

Abstract

In this study, political theory of Eric Voegelin is analysed. Voegelin’s political theory is basically a theory of history and it consists history of the civilization from Mesopotamia to recent. In this study, Voegelin’s political theory is analyzed as intellectual traditions: ancient-Greek, Jewish-Christian heritage and the modern gnostic tradition. In this study, we analyzed Voegelin’s basic question which consists his basic argument: What are the sociological, historical and political results of exploration, conservation and losing of “transcendent experience”? In his political theory, firstly transcendent experience is determinated as historical and “common experience” of humanity. And then in modern era, he analyses the political results of losing or ignoring of this experience: political religions, ideologies, totalitarian political systems, alienation, mass culture and etc

Keywords

• Voegelin, Political theory, History, Transcendent experience, Gnosis

ERIC VOEGELIN: POLİTİK DÜZENİN RESTORASYONU

Abstract

Bu çalışmada, politika filozofu Eric Voegelin’in politika teorisi incelenmiştir. Voegelin’in politika teorisi en temelde bir tarih teorisidir ve uygarlık tarihini Mezopotamya’dan günümüze içine alır. Bu çalışmada, Voegelin’in politika teorisi, insan görüşü ve tarih teorisi ekseninde antik Yunan ve Yahudi-Hıristiyan düşünce geleneklerini, modern dönemde de gnostik geleneği içine alacak şekilde analiz edilmiştir. Çalışmamızda, Voegelin’in politika teorisinin temel argümanını oluşturan şu problem incelendi: “aşkın tecrübe”nin keşfedilişinin, muhafazasının ve kaybedilişinin tarihsel, sosyolojik, felsefî ve politik sonuçları. Voegelin’in politika teorisinde, öncelikle “aşkın tecrübe”nin, tarihsel ve bütün insanlığa “ortak bir tecrübe” olduğu tespit edilir. Modern dönemde söz konusu tecrübenin kaybının ya da yok sayılmasının politik ve sosyolojik sonuçları ele alınır: politik dinler, ideolojiler, totaliter politik sistemler, yabancılaşma, kitle kültürü vs

Keywords

• Voegelin, Politika teorisi, Tarih, Aşkın tecrübe, Gnosis

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