Philosophers cannot apply for a faculty position in the Philosophy Department!

12punto.com.tr / Mustafa BÜYÜKSİPAHİ

In Kastamonu University's job posting dated December 30, 2023, the research assistant to be hired for the Philosophy Department is required to meet the condition of “being a graduate of the Philosophy Department, Faculty of Theology, or Faculty of Islamic Sciences, and currently pursuing a master's degree with a thesis in one of the following fields: History of Turkish-Islamic Thought, Islamic Philosophy, or Islamic and Turkish Philosophy.”

Looking at the requirements of the posting, one might think that graduates from philosophy departments or theology faculties could apply. However, the subsequent condition (“currently pursuing a master's degree with a thesis in one of the following fields: History of Turkish-Islamic Thought, Islamic Philosophy, or Islamic and Turkish Philosophy”) effectively blocks applications from candidates pursuing master's degrees in philosophy departments.

Although some philosophy departments have academic branches named Turkish and Islamic Philosophy, such branches do not exist within their master's programs. Therefore, someone pursuing a master's degree in a philosophy department's graduate program cannot apply for this position.

Under these conditions, the posting is expected to be filled by a candidate who is pursuing a master's degree in the Department of Islamic and Turkish Philosophy at Istanbul Medeniyet University, or in one of the History of Turkish-Islamic Thought, Islamic Philosophy, or Islamic and Turkish Philosophy branches at the Faculty of Theology of another university.

The research assistant to be hired for the Philosophy Department is required to be pursuing a master's degree in the aforementioned program opened within a faculty of theology.

With this condition, a further step has been taken in the long-standing systematic practice of hiring theologians for philosophy departments, effectively preventing even graduates of philosophy departments from applying.

News Source: Mustafa Büyüksipahi