Cumhuriyet Üniversitesi Fen-Edebiyat Fakültesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi

Öz

Abstract
The development of sociology as a science in Turkey has progressed in parallel with challenging processes. The intellectuals of the 18th century, in particular, who prioritized the resolution of the major social problems present in the Ottoman Empire and the prevention of the collapse of the state, aimed to adopt the science of sociology directly from its origin (France) as a shortcut and apply it to the mechanics of the structure of Turkish society in which a monarchic and theocratic regime was dominant. Sociology, which fell short of becoming the recipe for deliverance from the period of depression during which significant political, military, and socioeconomic upheavals were experienced, contributed to the reshaping of society on the way toward the foundation of a new state. In particular, the environment provided by the Second Constitutional Monarchy period allowed the publication of several magazines and newspapers. One of these publications was Ulum-u İktisadiye ve İçtimaiye Mecmuası [Economic and Social Sciences Magazine]. The Magazine, which started its life with the initiatives of Mehmed Cavid Bey, who served as the Minister of Finance in the last periods of the Ottoman Empire, Ahmed Şuayb, who managed to fit very valuable publications and intellectual contributions into his 34-year life, and philosopher Rıza Tevfik (Bölükbaşı), is the first social sciences magazine published in Turkish society. In this theoretical study, the conditions of the period were evaluated in a general sense by approaching the issue from the perspective of historical sociology, and the efforts of intellectuals who sought solutions to the crises experienced by the Ottoman Empire in its Westernization process to utilize the power of the social sciences and the data of the science of sociology by reviewing the relevant literature along with the point of view of the Magazine. In addition to being the first robust, scientific, and periodical publishing operation in Turkish society, the Magazine was also the work of the prominent intellectuals of the period.