A Philosophical Approach to Resat Nuri Guntekin's Damga: Iffet against Kant's Moral Law

Good and bad are basic concepts that determine universal moral criteria. However, although it may be easy to learn the boundaries of good and bad for oneself, the perception of good and bad may still vary from person to person. According to Kant, good is based on good intentions in human actions, and a good intention requires choosing only what is known to be good. The condition of good faith is that the intention and the action are done because it is a duty. Duty is obedience to a law that is universally binding for all people. The law that Kant speaks of is the moral law. Such a moral code does not imply anything specific for how a person should behave. However, it should contain maxims (life principles) for all people. If the maxim of a person is of universal value and is an end in itself, it is moral, and it conforms to the moral law. The good and bad actions that occur in communication of intention and will are also subject of literature. In this study, the intentions and actions of Iffet, the hero of Resat Nuri Guntekin's Damga are investigated in relation to Kant's moral law, using concepts, such as goodwill, conscientious morality, and maxims, which are the basic elements of Kant's understanding of morality. Kant's ethical laws, describing a universal duty for duty, and his approach to understand and to comprehend the events that occur to the character of Iffet are important in the context of the commonality of the disciplines of literature and philosophy.