An Example of Reinterpretation: Ahmed Riza's "Positivism"

Abstract

Considering the Ottoman modernization and, in this regard, the import of positivism merely as a simple transfer transaction remarks upon a deficient imagination of the essence of social processes. This article claims that in this transaction, there is an active and significant role played by the importers themselves so that the transaction constitutes a bilateral "reinterpretation" process. This work delineates the conditions in which positivism was introduced in Turkey, focusing particularly on the life and ideas of Ahmed Riza (1859-1930), one of the main leaders of the Young Turk movement and an active member of the Societe positivists, as well as the future president of the Ottoman Parliament. In this article, based on examples, it is shown that Ahmed Riza who had converted to "Religion of Humanity" appropriated positivism not in a passive process but in an active one in which he reconsidered and revised positivism, and also reviewed his own historical, cultural, and intellectual background from positivist perspective.