John Dewey'in Naturalistik Din Anlayışı
John Dewey’s Naturalistic Conception of Religion
Yazar: Tanış, Abdulkadir; Çıtır, İlhami
Dergi: Hitit Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, Vol. 18 No. 36, 2019
Anahtar kelimeler: John Dewey,Din Felsefesi,Pragmatism,Naturalistik Din Anlayışı,Tanrı Tasavvuru,John Dewey ; Philosophy of Religion,Pragmatism,Naturalistic Conception of Religion,Concept,john Dewey

Pragmatizminönde gelen isimlerinden biri olan John Dewey, Ortak Bir İman adlıeserinde din hakkındaki görüşlerini detaylıca ifade etmiştir. Temel olaraknatüralistik bir bakış açısından hareketle dini ele alan Dewey, konu hakkındakigörüşlerini din ve dinsel arasında öngördüğü ayrıma dayandırmaktadır. Buradadin, bir dinin belirli inanç veya pratikler kümesini ya da bu inanç vepratikler etrafında şekillenmiş olan kurumsal yapıyı dile getirmektedir. Bunakarşın, dinsel, yaşamdaki bütün insani ideal amaçlara yönelik benimsenebilecekbir tutumu ifade etmektedir. Onun ileri sürdüğü görüşün özü, dinî olanı dahaziyade doğaüstüyle özdeş gören tarihsel din, kurum veya öğretilerin reddedilmesi,bu sayede tecrübedeki dinsel öğelerin, tarihsel dinlerin getirdiği inanç, dogmavb. öğelerin yükünden özgürlüğe kavuşturulmasıdır. Dolayısıyla, o, doğaüstünebaşvurulmadan dinî tecrübenin doğal dünyanın olumsal koşulları içerisindeyorumlanması gerektiğini savunmaktadır. Bu çalışmada, Dewey’in din konusundakiiddiaları eleştirel bir bakışla analiz edilecektir. Bunun için öncelikle onundin konusundaki görüşleri betimsel olarak detaylı bir şekilde ortaya konulacakve daha sonra bunların değeri tartışılacaktır. İlk olarak, din ve Tanrıkonusundaki görüşleri geleneksel teist ve realist anlayışlarlakarşılaştırıldığında Dewey’in bir teist veya realist olarakdeğerlendirilemeyeceği ifade edilecektir. İkinci olarak, görüşleri her ne kadargeleneksel realist veya teist anlayışlar bağlamında yorumlanmaya müsait olmasada, onun tam anlamıyla anti-realist veya ateist bir bakış açısına sahipolmadığı daha ziyade orta yolcu bir noktada durduğu iddia edilecektir

One of theleading figures in pragmatism, John Dewey expresses his views on religion inhis A Common Faith. From a naturalistic perspective, he builds his viewsabout religion on the distinction which he has made between religion andreligious. The religion refers to a particular body of beliefs or practices ofa religion or the institutional structure formed around these beliefs andpractices. In contrast, the religious means an attitude that can be adoptedtowards all human ideal ends in the life. Basically, his view is the rejectionof historical religions, institutions or teachings that identify the religiouswith supernatural, and thus is to liberate the religious elements of experiencefrom encumbrances such beliefs, dogmas which come from historical religions.Therefore, he argues that religious experience should be interpreted within thecontingent conditions of the natural world without referring to thesupernatural. In this study, Dewey’s claims on religion will be analyzedcritically. For this purpose, his views on religion will be presenteddescriptively in detail and then their value will be discussed. Firstly, wewill claim that Dewey cannot be considered as a theist or realist when hisviews on religion and God are compared with traditional theist and realistapproaches. Secondly, although his views cannot be considered in a realist ortheist approach, we will argue that he also has not a purely anti-realist oratheist point of view, but rather he adopts a middle way.                    SummaryJohn Dewey, aprominent figure in pragmatism, makes important claims on religion and God inhis A Common Faith. Dewey’s views on the subject is based on thedistinction between “religion” as a substantive noun and “religious” as anadjective which points to the quality of experience. According to thedistinction, while religion refers to beliefs, practices and institutions,religious designates an attitude that can be adopted towards whole existence,objects and ideal ends. So it is possible to express religious as a modus ofexperience. Dewey’s basic thesis is to leave aside any religion orinstitutional structure that bases on supernatural and to evaluate thereligious quality of experience within the contingent conditions of the naturalworld. According to him, when historical religions or institutions arerejected, the value of religious experience will be understood moreappropriately since it will liberate from encumbrances such beliefs, doctrinesand dogmas which come from historical religions. He argues that theidentification of religion with belief in supernatural will inevitably lead toa distinction between religious and secular. When religion is confined in aparticular compartment, this leads to the division mind and energy of religiousperson. As a result, religious believer will not use his energy for social endsand ideals since he gives priority to supernatural. Dewey linksthe religious quality of experience with its function and asserts that thisfunction is a permanent and profound harmony of the self, both among itscomponents and with the world. According to him, the permanent and profoundharmony of the self, both among its components and with the world, isessentially an ideal because it requires the self to extend beyond itself and thereal world. Therefore, it is possible to say that religious is basically ideal.In contrast to a constant and determined the realm of existence, the idealmeans potentials or possibilities that do not exist in fact. The foundation forenhancing one’s ideals is the imagination power which human beings have. Basedon this, Dewey defines God as “the unity of all ideal ends arousing us todesire and actions.” When we recall that the source of ideal ends isimagination, the idea of God will be the product of imagination. This brings usto the most controversial point in Dewey’s thought of religion or God. For hisclaim that the idea of God is a product of human imagination led to many hiscommentators to interpret his views in an atheistic or secular way. Firstly, itshould be expressed obviously that he rejects traditional realist approaches.For he does not accept the idea of God as a fixed or constant entity beyond thephysical and social world, independent of human ends and ideals. Consideringthat traditional theistic view bases on such a realist approach, it can readilybe said that Dewey will not adopt a theistic idea of God. Indeed, he repeatedlystates that approaches that identify the religion with supernatural must berejected. Secondly, as we have stated, many commentators who consider theseclaims interpret his views in a completely naturalistic or secular way, placinghim in an anti-realist or atheistic position. However, it is possible to saythat these comments fail for a few reasons. First, Dewey expresses that hisgoal is not merely to provide a purely naturalistic explanation of religiousexperience or to deny its importance for life. Second, if his goal is toprovide a purely naturalistic explanation of religious experience, then whydoes he continue to employ religious concepts such as God or Divine? Third, heis well aware that his views may be misunderstood: “The view I have advanced issometimes treated as if the identification of the divine with ideal ends leftthe ideal wholly without roots in existence and without support fromexistence.” And he emphasizes strongly that the identification of God with thepossibilities within nature, rather than a realm of entity beyond nature, doesnot mean that God is an idea that exists only in human imagination. Given thesereasons, although his views cannot be considered in a realist or theistapproach, it can be argued that he also has not a purely anti-realist oratheist point of view, but rather he adopts a middle way.