Bilgin, BeyzaDoğan, Recai2022-05-172022-05-171996http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12575/80315Recai: "An Evaluation of the Views of the Westernist School on Religion and Education during the Second Constitutional Period", Ph. D. Dissertation, Adviser: Prof. Dr. Beyza BÎLGİN, Ankara University, Divinity School, V+302 p. The Second Constitutional Period (1908-1918, from now on the SCP) has an important place in the Turkish History. The freedom of press and liberty that emerged in this period provided the required environment for free discussions in the press regarding survival of Ottoman State. Consequently, the schools of "Westernists, Islamicists, and Turkish Nationalists produced ideas to save the State and looked for remedies for its ills. These schools were able to present and debate their theories openly in the press. Education was one of the topics the SCP emphasized most. The idea that "only education can save the State from destruction" played an important role for education having this priority. In this study, I examined the views of Westernist school on modernization, religion and religious education in general. The dissertation has three chapters including an introduction and a conclusion. The introduction explains the topic of the research, its aim, importance and methodology. The first chapter, under the title "the Westernist School", examines the following topics: the birth of the Westernist School, its development and the progress of Westernizm in education before the SCP, the condition of the Westernist School during the SCP, the Schools' press and publications, and its leading thinkers. The chapter also examines the views of the Westernists School on modernization, religion, family, woman and related topics. The second chapter, under the title "The Educational Views of the Westernist School", investigates how the Westernist thinkers considered education instrumentally and which aspects of educational reform was given priority. This chapter also explains how the Westernist School considered education as a tool for creating an "elite" in society, and to enlighten people through education; the question of alphabet, individualization of education and its relation to practice, primary education and teachers are among the topics which are studied in this chapter. The third chapter examines the views of the Westernist School on the religious education. It focuses particularly on their ideas in the areas of religious and ethical education in madrasas and secondary schools. Furthermore, this chapter studies the School's views on preaching and preachers, imams, khutbas and translation of the Qur'an into Turkish etc. which constitute an important part of adult religious education. The conclusion gives a summary of the results of the research and investigates briefly the influences of the Westernist School on the educational movements during the SCP.trBatılaşmadoctoralThesis