Philosophical Bases of the Concept of Eudemonism in K nal zade Ali Efendi

Eudemonia, a key concept of Aristotelian philosophy, is one of the major ethical terms that have been adopted and employed by the Muslim moralists. The Muslim philosophers divided philosophy into theoretical and practical, expounding their conceptions of morality within the latter. K nal zade is one of these philosophers who adopted the eudemonist theory of morality. For him, the attainment of eudemonia occurs through the acquisition of virtues and turning them into established habits. Man attains eudemonia in the hereafter once he attains it in this world. Man seeks to become happy by nature and this becomes possible only when one fulfills the prerequisites of theoretical philosophy along with those of practical philosophy. Those who realize both practical and theoretical philosophy may attain eudemonia. This paper is intended to address the eudemonistic morality of K nal zade with a view to the meanings he attributed to practical and theoretical philosophy.