Moral Content of Institutions To Regulate Social Life in the Alevi-Bektashi Belief System in the Context of the Concept of Virtue Ethics

Abstract

The content and framework of the concept of morality are determined by normative structures, and this concept is as old as human history. Man is a social being and for this reason, he has needed moral institutions and teachings that enable him to live together in every period of history. Moral teachings can be shaped under theological, cultural and legal headings, and these theories cover the totality of rules aimed at shaping human behavior, interpersonal relations and social life. In the Alevi-Bektashi belief system, there are structures that have the mission of regulating social life, as well as the elements that constitute the theological and philosophical content. These structures have moral propositions because they undertake the mission of regulating relations between people and are built on the theological system. Belief systems also have the feature of having moral answers on the theological level and promising to shape the moral dimension of the social humanity through these answers. In the Alevi-Bektashi belief, the institutions that regulate social life and provide formulas for regulating human relations are institutions of "musahiplik" and "d & uuml;& scedil;k & uuml;nl & uuml;k". These institutional structures also contain answers to how the moral value system of the belief universe in question is shaped. Evaluating the moral values of the Alevi-Bektashi belief system from a philosophical perspective is important in understanding the value judgments of the belief system. Based on this, in my study, from a conceptual perspective, I evaluated the moral obligations of institutions of "musahiplik" and "d & uuml;& scedil;k & uuml;nl & uuml;k" through the concept of virtue ethics. Focusing on the concept of ethics, which is a problem belonging to the discipline of philosophy, I aimed to examine the moral dimension of the belief system in question by providing information about the institutions of "musahiplik" and "d & uuml;& scedil;k & uuml;nl & uuml;k" that shape moral norms within the Alevi-Bektashi belief system.