The problem of self-consciousness and recognition is one of the most crucial and central issues in Hegel&rsquo / s Phenomenology of Spirit. The purpose of this study is to expose and investigate this problem in accordance with the unity of Phenomenology through which Hegel examines the experience of consciousness in terms of its own criterion. The emergence of self-consciousness as an explicit issue becomes the truth of movement of consciousness, and self-consciousness essentially takes the form of desire. In this process, self-consciousness evolves from the natural desire to desire for recognition, and recognition by the other arises as the condition of self-consciousness. Besides, the only form of recognition that makes the satisfaction of self-consciousness or desire possible is the reciprocal recognition. Hegel exposes consciousness&rsquo / experience of recognition as the struggle for recognition and the dialectic of master and slave. On the other hand, the process of recognition in the Phenomenology does not culminate in the master-slave dialectic or in the liberation of slave. Rather, the servile consciousness takes another shape that emerges from its contradictory nature and it changes into the freedom of thought. That is, Hegel&rsquo / s concept of recognition cannot be reduced to the master-slave dialectic / the process of recognition persists in the subsequent movement of consciousness and it evolves into certain recognitive relations in the &lsquo / Spirit&rsquo / . For this reason, the problem of self-consciousness and recognition has a determining or constitutive role through the whole movement of consciousness in the Phenomenology.

This thesis focuses on Sophocles&rsquo / Antigone in the context of Hegel&rsquo / s reference to it in describing the ancient Greek ethical life in the chapter on &ldquo / Spirit&rdquo / of the Phenomenology of Spirit. While evaluating the ancient Greek ethical life as a moment on the way to Spirit&rsquo / s self-knowledge which dissolves through its own dialectics, Hegel describes the inherent contradictions of ancient Greek ethical life which cause its dissolution through Antigone. Antigone&rsquo / s act of mourning has a central position in the context of the supersession of these contradictions. The aim of this thesis is to understand the ancient Greek ethical life as Hegel describes it and to specify Antigone&rsquo / s position in this description.

The argument that the encapsulation of perceptual modules provides secure bases for the reliability of observation in scientific disputes is strongly rejected by Churchland. While this debate was carried around the illusions, it reached to a fruitless point because the notion of illusion, the meaning of illusions and its place in the cognitive system is ambiguous. In order to come to a meaningful conclusion, the debate should be enriched by some other and clear evidence.

A given qualitative mental experience possesses qualitative aspects, or qualia, that identify and distinguish it from other qualitative mental states. While some philosophers explained the mental phenomena by positing nonphysical kinds of entities, some others propose wholly physical explanations. Even if those physicalistic explanations of the mental shed some light on the issue of body-mind relation, Joseph Levine claims that there still exists an explanatory gap between a qualitative mental state and the physical state supposedly responsible for it, since there is no explanation of how and why a certain kind of physical state gives rise to a specific kind of quale.This thesis is an exploration of this problem and evaluation of some of the views that interpret the gap as either ontological or epistemological in order to find out whether the gap is compatible with physicalism or not. The focus is on the Phenomenal Concept Strategy that proposes a physicalistic account for the existence of the gap that is based on the character of phenomenal concepts. I examine whether this strategy is satisfactory or not and propose a possible physicalist account to the special character of phenomenal concepts.

The purpose of the present study is to assess the role of the concepts of health and sickness in Nietzsche&rsquo / s philosophy. While doing this, our basic presupposition will be that these concepts owe their special place to their being the new criteria for Nietzsche&rsquo / s project of revaluation of all existing values. Nietzsche was philosophizing in the face of the crisis of 19th century Europe, that is, nihilism. According to him, Western traditional thought is based on an otherworldly oriented conception of life the values of which are nothing but a negation of life. Although these values had served man&rsquo / s justification of living for a long time, they reached their expiration by the &lsquo / death of god&rsquo / resulting from the materialistic tendency of the flourishing natural sciences of the 19th century. The &lsquo / death of god&rsquo / paved the way for a devaluation of once most valuable values, of which the most notable are &lsquo / good&rsquo / and &lsquo / bad&rsquo / . Thus, Nietzsche&rsquo / s project of revaluation needs new evaluative criteria as well, which is &lsquo / health&rsquo / and &lsquo / sickness&rsquo / . In this study, I will argue that, Nietzsche situates a physiological understanding of these concepts at the very heart of his revaluation and their somehow metaphorical application to culture and modern society is based on a physiological conception of them as well.

The purpose of this thesis is to develop a critical reading of Badiou&rsquo / s theory of truth. Contemporary popular trends such as postmodernism and anti-philosophy champion the principles of pluralism and contingency. They use these against Hegel&rsquo / s conception of history and theory of &lsquo / relational totality&rsquo / . Badiou agrees with these trends. But he criticizes their relativist theory of truth. He wants to provide an &lsquo / objective&rsquo / foundation for &lsquo / truth&rsquo / . The question I wish to explore in this thesis is then to analyze critically Badiou&rsquo / s work to find out whether he succeeds? To do this I am presenting Badiou&rsquo / s philosophical sources in ancient and modern philosophy and his main concepts he relies on. I am analyzing in particular in depth Badiou&rsquo / s understanding of ontology and phenomenology. To explain his concept of truth, I am analyzing his concepts of &lsquo / void&rsquo / , &lsquo / plurality&rsquo / , &lsquo / infinity&rsquo / . However, to make sense of his theory of truth more fully, I am looking also at his conceptions of &lsquo / event&rsquo / and subject&rsquo / , which are the main components of his theory of truth. After having analyzed his theory of of truth, I am looking at his conception of emancipatory politics, to see how his conception of truth works in his practical philosophy.

Rule following is a central concept in the philosophy of Wittgenstein who was one of the pioneers of modern philosophy. Wittgenstein criticizes the traditional concepts of rule, because they were vague, ambiguous, and idealized. He thinks that it is not possible to isolate rules from practice and that a rule takes its meaning in a certain context or in practice. Wittgenstein&rsquo / s concept of rule following is closely related to a set of concepts: internal relation, understanding, criterion. These concepts explains the intimate relation between rule following and practice. Wittgenstein believes that his theory of rule following does not generate some problems such as paradox of interpretation and regression. Furthermore, the concept of practice plays a central role in Wittgenstein&rsquo / s view of rule following. He removes metaphysical speculations that are put forward concerning the &ldquo / essence&rdquo / of rule following and locates rule following in a form of life, that is in a natural context. With this, he provides an explanation that clarifies misuses of language and establishes a correct relation between theory and practice.

The aim of this thesis is to try to establish a relationship between Heidegger&rsquo / s thought on authenticity and art, and to show the role of art in authentic being of Dasein. Dasein&rsquo / s being authentic depends on Dasein&rsquo / s revealing of itself as itself. In this respect art plays an important role in revealing Dasein as itself. Thus, the relation between art and authenticity can be based on alethia which is the revealing of being as itself. At the same time art plays an important role in authenticating Dasein by its world-disclosing feature as it allows Dasein&rsquo / s own world to reveal itself in its own way.

The main objective of this master&rsquo / s thesis is to examine the concept of difference according to French philosophers Gilles Deleuze and Henri Bergson. In order to explicate this crucial concept and its emphasis in these thinkers&rsquo / philosophies, this dissertation is focused on the notion of time and memory. Through the thesis, first Deleuze&rsquo / s critical attitude towards representational and dialectical approachs for difference is elucidated. After the comprehensive examination for the meaning of difference according to Deleuze, the understanding of time is revealed by means of Deleuzian comprehension of repetition and Bergsonian notion of duration. Throughout the thesis what is virtually hidden beneath the arguments, what is common in both philosophers finally is exposed as the concept of becoming. For Deleuze, whose philosophy of time is certainly dependent on Bergson, time creates a renewed conception in order for subject to be an individual as the state of permanent becoming. And an individual which is qualified as a state of becoming, is the memory of time where the latter is an infinite virtuality.

In this thesis, the problem of human being&rsquo / s alienation from its own Self, society, species-being, objects (products) and labour, which occurs in capitalist modernity through the formation of mass cultures, is analyzed in the conceptual context of Being and Time. In this respect, it is discussed that Heideggerian philosophy is not at odds with Marxism in contrast to Theodor W. Adorno&rsquo / s arguments in The Jargon of Authenticity. Additionally, the claim of this study is that Heidegger&rsquo / s ontologico-existential philosophy can be effective in the analysis and solution of the problem with regard to some socio-psychological causes and effects of alienation in which the method of political economy can remain inadequate. In particular, Dasein&rsquo / s free and authentic self-understanding which gets rid of the suppressive authority of publicness and the ontological Being-with Others in society in harmony with nature can introduce a revolutionary perspective into the problem of alienation. In this context, the similarities in the approaches of Marx and Heidegger on the modes of alienation are stated and the concept of alienation [Entfremdung] in Being and Time is discussed in relation to Marxist conceptions and the relevant concepts in Being and Time.