Phenomenon of philosophy in Kazakh culture

Kazakh philosophy? A few years ago this term would seem far-fetched. "The Kazakhstani School of Dialectics", which has been developing the ideas of classical German philosophy and Marxist principles, was known widely and respected. The western type of rational, systematic "philosophical writings" (whose unsurpassed master was Hegel) was acknowledged as the standard example. Hegel and Marx in the steppes of Kazakhstan – that was the philosophical paradox of the history of philosophy during the Soviet period. Of course, the steppes were able to understand and accept the German thinkers who influenced to a great extent the destiny of the epoch, but at the same time they had their own voice. Now, this voice is being heard.

In modern Kazakhstan no other theme is more actual and philosophical than an integrated conceptual comprehension of the world vision of nomadic civilization, and the comprehension of the universals trends and peculiarities of the oriental way of philosophical thinking and the universal methodology of science. Remarkable and innovative dissertations of young scientists, solid monographs by respectable scientists, discussions, congresses, publications follow one upon the other as if the dam has been broken. The work of self-awareness and self-comprehension is task No.1: to speak, to think and to study domestic culture, its peculiar characteristics, its sacred and evident signs and symbolism, which contains the future destiny of the nation, the language of symbols and the codes of deep essences, initial sources and initial senses. But self-comprehension from the point of view of hermeneutics means mutual understanding and interaction. Hence, to consider the theme of nomad civilization is to turn to the modern philosophical conceptions, thoughts and ideas, that now are widely spread both in the West and in the East.

Of course, if one uses the standards of the classical western type of philosophical thinking, of so-called gross academian philosophy a la Hegel, the traditional Kazakh philosophy would need to reject its claim to philosophical character, scientific structure and provability. But both eurocentrism and asiacentrism have already been surpassed in modern philosophy. Oriental philosophy has authoritatively declared its special status. What is most surprising: the modern western philosophy from Kierkegaard and Nietzsche to present day modernists has directed its attention to reforming the western tradition, a re-comprehention of the ontology of culture, and hence of anthropology, epistemology, and methodology. An oriental methodology requires such fundamental research in 21st century. All Western thinkers of the 20th century, emphasizing the cultural theme as paramount, are trying to realize a productive synthesis of the western and eastern traditions. The people of the West, tied to civilization and technical innovations, turn in hope their attention to the East that conserved the vital power of spirituality: Heidegger and his existential analytics of Dasein, Husserl and the idea of "the life world"; Adorno and the concept of "beautiful by nature"; Gadamer and the theory of understanding and mutual understanding. One may state that modern western philosophy has already perceived the ideas of the eastern world outlook, and transformed them in an innovative manner.

What is the main peculiarity of the oriental (and also of Kazakh-Turkish) philosophy? In my opinion, it is in organic unity of universalist trends of culture and philosophy. The classic western philosophy in some sense had "flown up", lost touch with the empirical and preferred the "area of pure thought". There it discovered the possibilities of the formation of new artificial worlds and ideal objects.

But as this advantage turned into a disadvantage, Martin Heidegger exposed the destructive character of the western tradition by revealing the defects of its "crude ontology of the available or the ‘at hand’", where the world and the man are constituted initially as mutually independent, unrelated objects. "Subject and object", "essence and phenomenon", "internal and external", etc. are categorical definitions of a "crude ontology of Dasein", pure categories, released from existential meaning. Such an ontological structure does not correspond to the demands of the modern world, states Heidegger. Man and the science seek other concepts where the original unity of man and world, and its existence as Dasein could be stated. With these ideas, Heidegger begins a direct dialogue with the oriental philosophy pretending to reconstruct the lost links of the categories of the western philosophy, and the universal trends of culture.

The sources of Kazakh philosophy are deep in the Ancient epoch and the mythological proto-philosophy of the proto-Kazakh (I-II millennium B.C.). It is well known, that the Kazakh nation was formed as a result of interaction of many ethnic groups and inherited their features. "The culture of the new-born ethnos inherited not only from one ancestor whose name it has taken, but from all the ethnic elements integrated in a new ethnic system"1.

Eastern Philosophy does not move within the reduced scheme "subject - object", produced by the basic principle of domination which determines the western discourse. It moves rather within the field of meaning producing concepts of "the human and the world", where nature shows itself not as an object of actions but as a live divine environment. Namely, such an ontological principle generates the existential character of categories of philosophy, its transformation into existentials, or, if applicable, into meaning forms. This does not mean the total identity of categories of philosophy and the universalist trends of culture. Philosophical categories, if permeated by living nature and spiritual in essence, are transformed into existentials: philosophy is self-aware; the experience and integral comprehension of universals tends toward culture.

The integrity of a traditional culture is defined, first of all, by a specific type of economy. Nomads treated nature as an active subject, but at the same time never considered themselves as its lord. Getting used to the severe, continental climate of the Great Steppe of Central Asia, the nomads created a thoroughly effective life system and skilful methods of nomadic cattle breeding, having defined when, where and how to herd without exhausting the soil. In winter, the cattle were pastured downriver where, under the snow, rich green grass was preserved in winter when the in mountains was exposed to sun and wind. The nomad was taught as if talked to by nature, listening to it as he went about his activities; it was alive for him. The Earth, the forest and mountains have had their own spirits. Man was allowed to manage their economy. For this he was thankful to the sky and earth, perceiving them as great miracles and unknown mysteries. "Nature and man, life and death were subjects of the highest wonder and full of inexhaustible mystery"2. The peculiarity of oriental philosophy is that it manifests itself mainly not in strict philosophical systems, but in poetry, folklore, and folk legends.

The basic universalist trends of the traditional world outlook are the notions of the way, space and time, and the sacred semantic center. The "way" or "road" expresses the dynamics of the traditional world outlook. Spending his life in the saddle the nomad has a specific perception of time and space. "Have a good way", people say to the one, going to journey, which is comprehended also as "life journey", "fate", "good luck".

A semantic kernel of the traditional Kazakh world outlook is the concept "kut", which is interpreted as "vital power", "inseminated source", "life potential", as well as "happiness connected with wealth", "abundance", "well-being", "fate", "destiny". This idea interconnects ontology, anthropology and social philosophy, revealing an essentially symbolic character of Kazakh traditional cultural notions. There is no "simple things" of merely practical use; everything around one manifests a dual character. All natural objects, houses, clothes, and food perform not only their usual functions, but are symbols that require interpretation. They express social codes, organizing and correlating the relations and affairs of people according to their gender, age, relations, wealth and origin, but also their relations to the transcendental and invisible world.

First of all, "kut" means the vital power and the ability to promote it. In the traditional world outlook, man, plants and animals are related and embody different forms of life inherent in nature and generated by nature. The experience of life is inherent to the relationship of man and world, and the experience is the basis for spiritual and value notions. Therefore, the rituals are of the highest value, for they express the life of the man. In these rites or ceremonial dramas, marriage with the nature is depicted. The reproduction of life at all levels is the main subject of feasts and of the shaman’s incantations.

The secret of fertility and birth constitutes the nerve of traditional culture. The first gift, gained from nature is that of life, kut, and a living soul. The milk Lake on the mountain’s peak as the center of Life and Fertility is the symbol of this vital force.

Therefore, corn is not simply a food product, but has a special semiotic status: there is a ban on giving milk yeast to stranger or treating the guest with milk, for this is the symbol of kin fertility. Similarly, the idea of natural fertility integrates the traditional Turkish world outlook, and penetrates the entire ritual folklore. The ontology of Turkish discourse may be read and unlocked with the semiotic code "life and fertility".

With this key, it is possible to interpret Turkish housing, the semantic space of the Yurta presenting itself as the arch of the sky overturned over man3. All points and segments of the Yurta were strictly regulated from the point of view of the Kut symbol understood as happiness and well being. The hearth was the crucial point as ruin of the family was identified with the hearth’s dying away, it was prohibited to stir the ashes, to spill the water in the hearth, to light from it and carry away the fire, since disaster would threaten the family. The host’s place in the yurta was called "hare", and expressed submission; while the youth were accommodated in the place called "bird".

Also, the hermeneutic method reveals the symbolic functions of the nutritional system in the traditional culture and to decipher the order in which to seat guests during the meal, the procedures for eating and the order of giving meat dishes (how to serve the sheep’s head and "ears", "lips", "eyes", according to a social hierarchy and age) as a certain complex of ritual actions, revealing the complicated pattern of interpersonal relations according to gender, age, and social status. It is possible to speak about ritual as the sacred and ethno-marking functions of the nutritional system.

A separate system is the semantics of traditional clothing relating to the certain life cycles and rites which accompany the stages of the nomadic household. From the point of view of Kut, the symbolism of age is interpreted and within it the institution of "age classes". Middle age is the center of the vital force and fertility while the child and the old man are close to their semiotic status. Hence, "the old man" is not simply an age, but expresses an ambivalent social function: no longer present in social activities, it is characterized by certain shortcomings, but simultaneously it approaches the world of the ancestors and spirits; he or she is respected in a special way.

Happiness in a traditional culture is always understood in connection with fertility, kut, and marriage. Fertility was the pledge of well being, good luck, and happiness. Therefore, sexual potential has individual dignity and social prestige, and the most unworthy individuals were a barren woman and an unmarried man. The gender aspect draws especial attention in the traditional world outlook. The man always was considered as the central figure in this society. Simultaneously, the maturity and work abilities of the man were understood as dependent on his attitude to the woman. "To become a human", meant "to become a family man", to create one’s own family. The proximity of woman to the earth’s generating function as of a bearer of fertility and happiness was emphasized. In many Turkish texts, the earth’s surface was compared the woman’s body. Marriage corresponds to the sacred plan of existence, and is being one of the most significant events in a human life.

Social relationships in the traditional society were, first of all those of blood and hence natural and vital. Gender presented itself as multi-faceted, expressed by having rich objects and tokens. The complicated system of real and symbolic connections was determining and determined human adaptation to the social environment, where the tradition was perceived as an immediate communication and presence of ancestors among living people. Being total and united in all its parts, gender establishes a community with a special "mythoritual biography".

Such notions establish the self-awareness of gender as "aruakh", "kydyr", and "yrym"4. Aruakhs are the spirits of the ancestors. According to the nomads’ imagination, each human leaves a heritage for his children, not only his Yurta, relations and name, but also his aruakh, and through this he remains among the living, influencing their destiny. If he was a worthy man, his spirit would favorably influence the fate of children and grandchildren, support and assist them during difficulties. On the contrary, if a man lived an unworthy life, his aruakh is not able to bring such support, but even brings new disasters and sufferings.

This peculiarity of the traditional world outlook is reflected in Kazakh folklore. Thus, the epos "Alpamys" says: "Coming to their senses after the first attack of Alpamys, the Jungars saw that the hero comes alone. They decided not to spend their strength but to defeat him with arrows. All Jungars together stretched their bows, but the thousands of arrows targeted to Alpamys veered away from his body without even causing a scratch. The reason was that before the battle Alpamys asked the warriors’ Protector, "Gaiperen-kyryk shelten", for protection. Turning into a piece of fog, he imperceptibly came down from the sky and protected the young hero.

An opposite example is the Tolegen’s fate in the poem "Kyz-Zhibek". Leaving for his bride, Tolegen did not receive the blessing of his father and hence, aruakhs did not protect him. Therefore, instead of love he met death and the lake Kosoba.

Also, the epic heroes are already personalities having a right to their own choice and destiny. Such are Korkyt-Ata, the heroes Koblandy and Alpamys, and the lovers Kozy-Korpesh and Bayan-Sulu.

"Kydyr" is also an important idea of the traditional world outlook. It is a supernatural/ transcendental creature able to perform any wish, to bring good luck, wealth and health. But "kydyr" always appears in the image of a beggar, an old man, a homeless wanderer. No one knows whether he is a beggar or the mighty Spirit. Though more than forty homeless persons were met on the road, only one of them may be "kydyr", yet it is necessary to help everyone. For example, in the poem of Abai "Masgut", the hero disinterestedly helps the poor old man, who had been attacked by a robber, but finally it appeared that under the image of the beggar he had met "Kydyr". The wonderful old man was none other than the custodian of happiness, holy Kydyr. Saying goodbye, he blessed the dzhigit, and Masgut came back home.

Above with the concept of "Kydyr" there is one other concept, the bird of fortune, which perches on a man’s palm. In that way, Bukhar-Zhyrau explains the great achievement of Ablai-khan by his meeting with such a "bird of fortune":

The bird of prosperity perched on your head

Kydyr — the patron of wealth — came to you

Happiness spent a night in your house5.

Ch. Valikhanov in his remarkable paper "The Traces of Shamanism at the Kyrgyz" considers one more concept of the traditional outlook: yrym, executing of specific actions with the purpose of avoiding misfortune. For example, in "giving a dress to anyone, retain one button or outset. Never sell the main animal in a herd or "kug", in order that the property, in this case, the cattle not be decreased in this family"6.

Wealth has its meaning in a special semiotic context. The concept of wealth includes the personal characteristics and virtues of a person; it means pre-destination. This respectful attitude is found in the etymology of the word "bai", which means rich and at the same time worthy, esteemed or dear.

Hence the nomadic culture may be interpreted as an original text with semantic unity. A compound ideological complex as related to the concept "kut": "fertilizing principle", "potency of life", "happiness", "abundance", and "plenty". Kazakh philosophy, being very close to a world, has the concepts of a traditional culture which, while avoiding the loss of its existential character, at the same time is not identified completely with a field of culture. Philosophy executes the special mission of interpretation; it is first of all hermeneutics, the art of decoding the complicated text of traditional culture. In that sense oriental philosophy realizes the task formulated by Spengler: "to comprehend the physiognomy of the great cultures".

For the accomplishment of such a task we have at our disposal vast material, which is continually being replenished. First of all there are the of Orkhon-Yenisei runic writings expressing the true spirit of traditional Turkish culture with the traditional features of Turkish mentality: free, independent, spiritual force, courage, with the aspiration to conserve the originality of Turkish language and its attitude to the world. These inscriptions, the most ancient evidence of the Turkish spirit, were written on steles in honour of Kul-Tegin, Bilge-Kagan, Tonykok, Moyun-Chura and Kuli-Churu. Not all of them have yet been deciphered, but they are the evidence that in an antiquity there was a constant Turkish written tradition. An early treasure is also the national legends, heroic epics, proverbs and sayings expressing the national wisdom and exhibiting authentic pages of the national history and philosophy. Great interest during recent years has been paid to legends and kyui of the great Turkish wise man and musician Korkyt-Ata, who challenged death and succeeded in finding an insuperable counter-force, i.e. music, creativity, and the kobyz devised by him. Abu Nasr Al-Farabi is considered as one of the first interpreters of the universal trends of traditional Turkish culture. His creativity is studied nowadays in many centers of science, East and West, including Almaty, in a recent International congress "The Legacy of Al-Farabi and World Culture". Scientists from nine countries of the world discussed all major aspects of his philosophical hermeneutics. The key to interpreting the universalis trends of culture and Turkish ontology the thought of Al-Farabi is the concept of "happiness", which, in the opinion of many researchers, may be linked with the Turkish concept "kut". "As far as we may perceive happiness, when we have the sense of the perfect, which is perceptible by us only by the art of philosophy, this presumes that it is due to philosophy that we perceive happiness"7.

A philosophical poem of Yusuf Balasaguni, striking in its conception and performance, is "Kutty Bilik" ("Beneficial Knowledge" or "The Art of Being Happy"), expressing in the language of ancient Turks an ontology of life. Balasaguni expresses a sacral sense of the world through figures or symbols embodying Equity, Reason, Happiness and Wisdom. The great Turkish thinker creates a compendium of a moral-ethical standards and characteristics, styles of behavior of the governor and of all those who surround him: minister, commander, treasurer, doctor, cup-bearer, scientist. But practical philosophy has a deeper layer containing the doctrine of the spiritual moral perfection of man and his wanderings in search of the primary principiles called cultivation of the garden of the soul. Equity acts as a system-constructing principle ("Koyugoldy" — "the Sun has risen"), which presumes happiness as well. ("Only one is fair, - Elik answered - who is used to verify the word with his heart, whose essence and appearance is indivisible forever, i.e.: the one who is truthful and fair, a bearer of equity, glory and honor; in essence that is humanity!").

The remarkable monument of traditional Turkish culture - "Divan Lugat At-Turk" ("Dictionary of Turkish adverbs") of Makhmud Kashgari, contains the history of Turkish language, and describes the custos and traditions of the Turks and the "live and rhymed speech of Turks, Turkmen’s, oguzes, chigils, ygmas, Kyrghyzs..."8.

A special place in Turkish culture is occupied by the creativity of the great prophet and wise man Akhmed Yassavi, whose mausoleum in Turkestan symbolises his spiritual power and his crucial influence on the formation of the Turkish spiritual outlook and Islamic culture, in which self-knowledge is knowledge of the Most High, Allah. He synthesized Mohammedan mysticism, Sufism with Turkish folk beliefs (Tengry).

During his life he followed the path of moral and physical perfection, having come closer to God. In his philosophy Spiritual outlook means Love.

One who does not know the religion of love

does not know soul.

Turkish culture is filled with the creativity of the great zhyraus and akyns. Many philosophical-poetic masterpieces have been preserved till our time: Asan-Kaigy, Shalkiz-zhyrau, Bukhar-zhyrau, Tleuke Kuleuly, Shal-akyn. These poetic creations have both a social and a philosophico-religious sense: man, God, world and the perfection of the society are their basic themes.

Even though he will see the whole Universe

Even though he will succeed in entering her golden house. Though he’ll succeed in walking among the stars,

And to reach the Moon being valiant, -

Man would not stake his thirst of knowledge,

Bukhar-zhyrau tells.

At the heights of Turkish philosophy is the creativity of thegreat thinker, Abai. His philosophy, like other cultural phenomena of world rank, may be interpreted from various positions. In these interpretations the heritage of Abai not only perseveres, but increases. Abai was characterized as enlightened because he had opened for the Kazakh people an original system of values: he was the first not only to show that knowledge was the principle of human life but to connect it with a principle of development. Over the steppe he proclaimed: "Adam bol!" ("Be a man!"). The existential character of Abai’s creativity recently has received much attention. In "The Words of Edification" he opens intrinsic layers of life through the unique life experience of suffering and happiness. Abai proposed a hermeneutic interpretation of the traditional culture of the Kazakh, as a consistent and complete text. This productive approach may detect the national originality of the philosophy of Abai that makes his heritage especially significant within the context of world culture. Abai is a spokesman of the Kazakh mentality based on the integrated relation between "man and world". Hence there is a special type of personality, of absence of dissonance between mind and heart, and an ability to think with the heart. The development of this ability is a main task of XXI century. Most of all, Àbai hates laziness and ignorance. He stands for education, and study of the bases of the sciences. But at the same time he warns about the dangers of science without conscience and interior awareness. His principle is a reasonable heart or a conscientious mind. "One who worships feelings of love and equity - that one be a wise and skillful man"9.

We may draw here direct parallels with ideas of the fundamental ontology of M. Haidegger, who aspires to recover an integrated relation between "man and world", and introduces the terms "Intraworldness" and "Dasein". In the modern world, Heidegger notes, all distances are being reduced. But coming nearer, things getting further from us. They cease to "thing", because the man wants them only in order to use or consume them so that the integrity of the world is lost. Heidegger tries to return to western people a world perception, which Abai had named a "reasonable heart". When we bring to someone a cup of water, then in "this water there is a source. At the source there is a rock, in it there is dark slumber of the Earth absorbing the rain and dew of the sky. At the source of the water there is a wedding of sky and Earth"10. Heidegger connects the rescue of western civilization with an application of the spiritual experience of the East.

If western philosophy in the XXth century has come to acknowledge the need of the formation of a new ontology focused on an integrated attitude toward the world, the Kazakh people have saved such an integrated world understanding in the traditional culture in the creativity of the great akyns and zhyrau, in folklore, and in the masterpieces of Kazakh thinkers. Even when the official ideology imposed dogmas, the internal life of the Kazakhs was defined by their traditional outlook. Such a type of world understanding appeared urgent in the formation of a complete outlook for humankind. This now has entered a new millennium, Kazakh philosophy is a major expression of the complete outlook under development at this turn of the millennia.

Thus, the Kazakh philosophy has the vast and rich material of a traditional culture, a complex codified text not yet completely interpreted. This great hermeneutic task is imposed upon Kazakh philosophy of the XXIst century. In this major mission, Kazakh philosophy is taking shape in the drama of world philosophy in order to make its contribution. The essence of this dramatic function is that Western philosophy finds itself in an objective situation in which reality melts and the diversity of artificial worlds is formed: "The logic of the symbols is dismantled" (Zh. Derrida) and the man is involved in the complex networks of communication and information, becoming a citizen of the Internet empire. One finds oneself in a texture of relations more complex and mobile than ever. But he is threatened with being lost in horrible labyrinths of artificial worlds, and self-transform into "simulakra" or copies without an original or real world. If this threat appears, there should be a response as well. As usual, at the most responsible moments of history, one appeals to philosophy to help. It should be defined today as the "salvation of the world" (the term of M. Merleau-Ponty), the return of reality, of terrestrial life, and of life itself. This task also may be fulfilled by the oriental (Kazakh) philosophy. One may say, that oriental and western philosophy act today as though in opposite directions: the western tends towards artificial worlds, while oriental philosophy tends in an opposite movement toward retaining its reality and preventing the threat of a complete oblivion of Life. This is because Kazakh philosophy is internally closer to the universal trends of culture, to its smells of the mountains and steppes and the winds of a nomadic civilization.

At the same time such "a movement in opposite directions" creates a necessary balance or mutual complementarity, due to which it is possible to develop a complete, integrated philosophy of the future. If traditional Kazakh philosophy has not yet complied with the western canons, it has succeeded in incorporating the best aspects inherent in the history of both the western and the Kazakh idea. Having apprehended and mastered the western principles, methods and categorical apparatus, Kazakh philosophy of the XXth century has an ability to perceive deeply, to reveal and to structure the ways of thinking of the past and the outlook of the Kazakh people. on this basis mutual recognition and a productive dialogue of cultures and civilizations is possible.

The organic combination of oriental (Kazakh) and western culture and philosophies is not yet a fact, but a task for future. Nevertheless, such a combination has already taken shape in sovereign Kazakhstan, giving hope that in this century Kazakh philosophy and research in its history will gain a new stage of development with a new form and at new levels. It will be a brand-new and very important stage in the progression of Kazakh philosophy from the past towards the future.

In mastering the cultural and spiritual heritage of the Kazakh nation a particular place belongs to folklore, popular music and oral literature. Folklore as a source of national wisdom enables youth to gain insight into the traditional outlook.

It is impossible to imagine a national history and philosophy without great thinkers. Some have led the nation along good paths to summits of progress, while others by generating confidence, have pushed people over a precipice, dooming them to torments and suffering. Today we recall some with gratitude and others by shaking our heads in distress. When the question is about philosophy, science, culture, art, one cannot help mentioning some people, for all philosophical or scientific works, all creations of culture or art come into the world first from someone’s soul.

What today are singled out as national zhyrs (epic poems) and kuis (instrumental music works), and the songs and legends, whose authors are now unknown, were first of all creations of concrete people. Only afterwards, their names not being fixed in writing, have they been forgotten in the great flood of being, named time. Their works were retained in people’s memory, though they themselves have been forgotten. Having come from the depth of centuries, these works likely could be polished and even changed and complemented; but originally each was by a skilful master. To approach to problem from this side we see that the nation has relied on its memory and less on the letters in retaining unchanged the works of such great forbears as Korkyt-ata, Abu Nasr al-Farabi, Makhmut Kashgari, Hodja Akhmet Yassavi, Asan Kaygy, Bukhar-zhyrau, Abay, Shakarim, which have become the property of the people.

Conspicuously, most historic persons with a particular philosophical cast of mind, as time passes rise above the general level of nomadic life like lonely alpine summits above the broad expanses of the steppe, and remain in the memory of the nation forever. In time their works were written down on paper and had great influence on the broad Turk culture of that period and its further development.

The philosophical basis or background of good works is, as a rule, deeply hidden, but is found among a generation of historic figures with a philosophical heritage such as the great kuishi (composer) Kurmangazy Sagyrbayev.

Music is believed to be a genre of arts, which generally surpass barriers of national language and frontiers. However, like all works of art, music begins from the national outlook and world view; its true dignity lies in conveying the sorrows and expectations of its native people. Such works constitute a unique indivisible content and intonation and at the same time turns into the symbol of the age-old dream of the nation and its spirit, as well as constituting channels for communicating these feelings from generation to generation.

Why does any child of the Kazakh nation, at the sounds of Kurmangazy’s kui with its deep hidden philosophy and humanism feel his heart blessed? The fact is that in his kuis the steppe buzzes from the clatter of horses’ hoofs and the incessant noise of battle. A long drawn-out melody, after growing faint, will break out suddenly as if from a gorge in steppe expanses. As if having achieved victory, it gives way to cheerful rejoicing. Soaking in bloody times our wise and martial spirit has not died down within us, despite the prevailence for many years of an alien culture. Great kuishi emitted through his heart these pictures and turned the relationship of man and nature into the immortal language of music. It aroused the slumbering spirit of the nation, and left a spark which reaches everyone from generation to generation. That is why the kuis of Kurmangazy accord with the zhyrs of Asan Kaygy and Kaztugan, Dospambet and Shalkiiz, Bukhar-zhyrau and Makhambet. Although he lived circumspectly in a strange nation, he kept in his soul a national idea and dream of freedom and of a free life:

When day comes

Do you saddle a neighing horse?

Our people found in Kurmangazy’s kuis strength for body, bulwark for soul, and support for hope. The sound emanating from the double-string dombra turned into a powerful flood, the anthem of freedom and independence. In recent soviet times one motive of our glorious fellow-citizens, who were unable to express their dream in words, was by honoring the creation of Kurmangazy as perfected and orchestrated, to bring these sounds to distant borders. It is impossible, that one who grew up constantly hearing kuis "Sary Arka" and "Balbyrauyn", "Kisen ashkan" and "Kobik shashkan", would not soak in the high spirit of his nation. That spirit is alive today, as we face sovereignty and democratic transformations, develop our culture and revive the philosophy of the music. This music is an unexplored field of special philosophical knowledge. In the course of time the value of a genuine work of art becomes more obvious. Similarly, the importance to the nation and to human civilization of an historical person becomes more visible from century to century. Certainly, Kurmangazy’s kuys which have given strength to the national spirit and encouraged it at one of the most dramatic turns of its destiny will not allow future generations to forget about the grievances and sufferings, the dreams and spiritual values of the people, which will sound in their ears always.

Kazakh philosophy lives in poetic and musical forms. Research such as the PhDs of Esim, Nurmuratov, Seidimbekov, Kasabekov, Orynbekov, Ayazbekov, Gabitov, Nurjanov, Taizhanov, Akatay and others are fruitful in this direction and must be continued. However, in this period of renaissance it is essential to research the history and theory of Kazakh and Turk philosophy, which will help us to understand more profoundly and systematically Kazakh history and literature. In the period of renaissance it is important to be led by the specific and perduring national and strategic needs of Kazakhstan.

All peoples on Earth constitute a whole. Everyone with open eyes and a hopeful soul acknowledges this truth as they proceed into the third millennium. As white-haired scientists in all parts of the world engage the latest scientific discoveries from deep research into human origins in all parts of the Earth, we become even more convinced that all originate form the same Father and Mother. This descendants over many millennia spread out and began settling down, based on the kinship of their ancestors and their locations, united by a common destiny and language, common beliefs and other similarities, and began to unite into nations. Later they formed different cultural traditions, sometimes interacting, sometimes alienated from one another. They always tried to be in the avant-garde, first of regional and later of global development. Wars in human history had different reasons, but similar outcomes, for collisions brought victory to the higher culture. Gradually, the notion of a global world culture has become the force determining the main direction of present development. That is, the notions of "world culture" and "world civilization" that we frequently repeat are not just the sum of the national cultures and regional civilizations, but the work of cultural layers of the live process called human development.

Ancient history has witnessed many events. We know of the rich culture of nations whose power constructed the walls of human civilization, but which died out. Other nations, which for decades or hundreds of years led human progress, later, for different external and internal reasons, are found on the edges of world civilization and continue to live in a shadow. Our Turk culture seems to belong to this latter type. The steppe inhabitants, having mastered the art of horse-riding, construction of arba (chariot), iron work, inscribing signs on stones and many other discoveries much earlier than other nations, having made a valuable contribution in the development of the human civilization, gradually began moving to the back of the world development caravan. Though they had no rivals in education and rhetoric, in the arts of words and music, they lagged behind.

Yet till today such persons as Zoroastra, Anaphasys, Korkut ata, Abu Nasr al-Farabi, Mahmut Kashgari, Hodja Akhmet Yassavi, Chokan, Abay and others amaze all the world and are like mountain spurs that continue till our days. "Nothing comes out of the blue; what we have will never disappear". The accuracy of this postulate acknowledged by the community of scientists and philosophers will, at the end of the XX century, probably be confirmed once more by the Kazakh nation which has built a sovereign state on the ancient Motherland of the Turks. The creative energy of the national culture witnessed at the turn of centuries in history and philosophy, literature and cinema, music and arts seems a good omen.

In this regard we face a question, "What are the ethical treasures that can impress the global community which long ago tasted the sweet and bitter fruits of the Kazakh progress?" What new discoveries can the Kazakh nation bring to the development of the world culture and civilization?

Asking this question is a historical trend before the third millennium peoples worldwide summed up their gains and losses and determined an independent direction for their national development. World culture, which has witnessed many searches of the unknown and doubtful will take up any new idea. Only that which has deep roots, based on a valued traditional national culture and corrsponding to the dreams of and preferences of its people and their contemporary world community. In weighing the rich ethical and cultural treasury, we have inherited, we realize that our musical and literary arts contain special power to attract the interest of the world.

Perhaps it is because they were descendants of the Turkic tribes and inherited a native land, but the Kazakh people used to build cities whose domes could be seen from a great distance in the steppe. They used to live in white palaces and learned unforgettable lessons. When in numerous cruel fights their houses were ruined, they preferred the free life which was dear to their nature. Later, out of all the arts, they valued more the arts of word and music. They joined these two arts into one, and invented it with their spiritual power. "The poetic world overflowed even these unlimited spaces, amazing many poets," writes President Nazarbaev in his "On the Wave of History." It was not limited by beauty and feelings, but could burn with the fire of innovation. Probably, that is why Kazakh poetry has a profound cognitive content, why Kazakh traditional history is always accompanied by philosophy". If this profound philosophical poetry could be translated without misconstruing its content and artistry, and made known to the world community, it would constitute a perpetual stream flowing into the river of world culture. A great work entitled The Steppe Poetry of Two millenniums, published by the Kazakh Encyclopedia Editing House, illustrates this.

Kazakhs sense the integrity of the development of their steppe culture, its connectedness as a main artery from the ancient times till now, much more than other researchers. Better than anyone else they understand the ancient stone pictures, Avest’s poem, and Anaphase’s statements. This is first.

Second, We state that the poems by Tonuecook and Kul-tegin which are cut in stone, and our famous ancestors Korkut-ata, Abu Nasr al-Farabi, Hodja Akhmet Yassavi, Mahmut Kashgari, Usuf Balasaguni, Suleimen Bakirgani belong equally to all the Turk peoples. Yet, according to Makan Zhumabaev, they are closer to "those who have inherited a black shanyrak – a ceiling circle (native house)" – that is, to the Kazakh people. Thus, the "Kummanicus Code" of Kipchak culture and other historical hand-written poems that were preserved as a European inheritance, now find their legal owner.

The most developed genre of the Kazakh poetry is akyns and zhyrau poetry. This period of poetry is especially significant for us as it was shaped in close connection with the Kazakh people emerging from the Turkic world. They began to live their own life, became an independent nation, and spared no effort to preserve their sovereignty, realizing how desperate is the one who has lost this freedom. The details of history, traditional ideology, national self-understanding, dreams and expectations – all these have been described in poems.

A new epoch of Kazakh poetry began with Abay. His poetry synthesizes the advanced artistic methods of both East and West in Kazakh lands. He created a new artistic form, and first pushed the people’s deep spiritual potential, to the top of world culture. Great Abay set free the hidden power of the national culture so that Kazakh poetry began to flow in a new philosophical channel. Abay’s tradition has returned in our days, in line with the world’s best works of poetry in depth and artistry. The line of Kazakh poetry, starting from Abay, is unbroked and has no visible frontiers or end. No doubt, the influence of Abay’s artistry, his impact upon poets, will last for many centuries.

As globalization accelerates in the third millennium, it has no informational and financial frontiers and obliges peoples to protect themselves from a new danger. Now every nation that would protect its identity - first of all, the historical essence or peculiarity of their national way of thinking or mentality, their ideology, their native language and their internal world or proper culture, should do so on the basis of special laws. From this point of view, the above-mentioned collection, Steppe Poetry of Two Millenniums, published by the Kazakh Encyclopedia Editing House acquires special value and will be dear to everyone, for as long as Kazakh poetry exists and new generations of its readers grow in the steppe, the Kazakh nation will live.

Living beings were created to be free. Even a plant grows on its own reaching up toward the sun, and every live being wants the same. A human being having entered this world aspiring for freedom, until death moves about to meet his needs without cease. The internal world of the most obedient and patient person is full of dreams and goals, aspirations of freedom and will.

Nations are formed of people of different origins and historical roots, customs and traditions, environments and occupations and, finally, of the integral connection of their national thinking, language, and ideology, as well as dreams of freedom and independence. Each nation wants to find its place on Earth and in the history of humankind. A person or nation deprived of dreams and hopes loses both its dignity and quality, degenerates and dies out. One might be amazed at the power that enabled the nation which had been a slave for three centuries to raise its national identity like a flag, build a sovereign state, and become well-known in all four quaters of the world in only 10 years. This power is the national honour and spirit of independence that never died out in the heart of the nation. Who would think that after the time of the ancient Turks – the warriors who moved across half the world - their direct heirs would find themselves at the bottom of civilization and be slaves for three centuries? Probably, it was a punishment for haughty disobedience, for the fact that in the proper time we failed to foresee the future, neglected dangers and threats, and did not notice the new spirit adopted by all peoples. Perhaps, it is an historical pattern that nations in the course of history have to take an exam from time to time to test their essence, spirit and endurance.

However that might be, the truth is that our freedom-loving nation that used to hold the world in fear, and conquered the center of the Eurasian continent, could not escape the net of internal contradictions and suffered a yoke upon its neck. Actually, all was done to a few generations to repress the nation who, according to Abay, "let their own will go", to oppress their patriotism and national spirit, and in every way to direct their national spirit into a different ideological channel. But the nation cherished a hope of rebuilding an independent state. This hope revealed itself from time to time; especially in the 1920s when a large group of the national intelligentsia, a mature professional political and intellectual elite, rose and actively began to identify the needs of their people and of their future sovereign development. Bokeihanov, Shokay, Dulatov, Zhumabaev, Baitursynov, Kudaiberdiev and other outstandingly gifted people were among them. Able to evaluate the situation, being well-educated and knowing different methods of political struggle, these outstanding Kazakh democrats were very different from the former leaders who blindly sent the rebels to fight cannons with swords. They opened their people’s eyes, awoke their spirit, armed them with knowledge, and chose the long, hard but right path of the gradual acquisition of independence. The major weapon to awaken the national spirit was to publish a newspaper that would officially be spread among the population and whose main objective would be to promote the national idea. "Kazakh" became such a newspaper; it began in 1913, was published between 1913 – 1918, and successfully fulfilled this objective.

The Kazakh intelligentsia headed by Alikhan Bukeihanov was assembled for this one goal and the Kazakh which brought their voice to the population was published 265 times. This was not great by today’s measurements, but in the transitional period of the social-political situation when the Russian colonial politics was blooming, it took great courage and heroism regularly to publish a newspaper promoting the idea of national independence for an oppressed people for 5 years in the face of the colonizers. In the short period of its existence the newspaper assembled the entire Kazakh intelligentsia around a common objective. It awakened the sleeping national spirit as a bell and assembled thousands of advanced people under the banner of national independence. This was the first time that such a large public-political organization as the Alash national-democratic party whose birth was brought about by the newspaper had emerged in Kazakh history. When the entire world turned upside down, this newspaper led the Kazakh people safe and sound out of disorder. It became the voice of the Alash-Orda government aimed at establishing an autonomous sovereign state. But it was impossible to resist the Soviet power, which acknowledged the rights of the people only orally, but actually was led by quite different principles.

In any case, the Kazakh newspaper accomplished its task and achieved its goal. Its voice calling for an independent nation continued from one generation to the other. "The Kazakh, - Auezov wrote in 1923 in the Sholpan magazine, - identified the reason for the national ailment, found the cure, awoke the people, brought their forces together, taught them to resist the tsarist politics, and stated that it is time to begin acting. In this way the Kazakh fulfilled its task". It raised the political-philosophical idea to a new level similar to today’s democratic ideals.

One of the Kazakh intelligentsia, who at the beginning of the XX century fighting for the national freedom, Khalel Dosmukhametov, in his reply to the OGPU (United State political Administration) in 1931 said the following about the Kazakh, In 1913 Baitursynov and Dulatov began to publish the Kazakh with a national-democratic trait. They assembled around them an essential group of teachers and students of the Orenburg’s and Ufa’s schools. Most Kazakh intelligentsia with a higher and secondary education followed the Kazakh. Bokeihanov who was involved in planning the newspaper’s foundation was the major leader of the Kazakh. It became a center which organized the Kazakh nation, awakened up by the first Russian revolution, into a community and led it. The newspaper published articles about Kazakh political life, organized discussions on actual topics and directed the socio-political thought of that period into a cohesive channel.

It is clear that such a newspaper would not be liked by the Soviet power, which wanted everyone to think in the same manner. All the issues of the newspaper calling for independence were hidden for 70 years. But the bell of independence which the Kazakh newspaper proclaimed, sounded from one generation to the other and reaching the December events of 1986 in Almaty, encouraging the citizens eager for freedom and independence. We have become an independent nation thanks to that spirit.

History which is not remembered by people, or connected with contemporary life is dead. Only nations which have died have a lifeless history. While previously the great historical path walked by the Kazakh nation has not been broadly described, today we face different requirements. We should completely re-write this history, proceeding from national and strategic needs and based on the national idea. We must learn from the continuous aspiration of the people for well-being and for a state organization as a continuous political process, expressed in the national struggle and proud of its bright periods. In this regard it will be very useful both for us and our future descendants to look through the Kazakh as a chronicle of a significant period in the development of our socio-political idea. Thereby the national idea, which was supported by the Kazakh, will strengthen the internal unity of the Kazakh nation and will come to life as we become an independent nation. We need to consider the political-philosophical issues brought up in the Kazakh and research their connection with the burning issues of today.

Without a correct understanding of the historical past of the nation, it is impossible to understand life today with its contradictions and troubles or to forecast the future and be spiritually rich persons. According to the genial Akhmet Baitursynov, the present century is child of the past and father of the future. This excellent rule has helped us reconsider and adjust the national ideology. In Middle Asia the national philosophy took a poetic-artistic form, in its manifestations as oral literature, folklore. Therefore it is very important to be able to teach the young people the national history of their people and the valuable examples of the philosophy of nomadic, semi-nomadic and settled peoples. Along with that we cannot help mentioning the professional philosophy which began to take shape in the 1950s. An essential problem is the research of the cultural-historical background for the formation of a professional philosophy. As a rule, every person with higher education thinks of himself as a connoisseur of philosophy, whereas, there are many from whom professional philosophy should be protected for such ignorant people cause heavy damage both to culture and science.

Thus, Kazakh philosophy has the internal meaning and significance of a content not yet fully understood, but rich with the materials of the traditional culture. To deeply research it and bring it to life in the future is the hermeneutic obligation of Kazakh and Kazakhstani philosophers involved in the solution of various issues of world philosophy.

One needs to distinguish between the Kazakh and Kazakhstani philosophy. We are aware of the existence of the rich philosophy of the Kazakh nation from the ancient times till nowadays. Along with that, the shared philosophical ideas of the ethnic groups living in Kazakhstan can be called the Kazakhstani philosophy. Today the super ethnic groups of Turks (65%) and Slavics (35%) prevail. Therefore in the Kazakhstani philosophy the dialogue between the philosophical tradition of the Turk and Slavic peoples is very crucial. By this inner safety and interethnic concord are becoming stronger.

ABAY AND SHAKARIM: GOD AND REASON

Abayis many-sided, versatile and ambiguous figure in the history of Kazakh philosophy. This can be proved by the fact that each generation reads and comprehends him in a new way, each time opening new aspects and nuances of his creative activity. Every new generation of philosophers finds special nuances and "turns" in his creative activity. Abay is interpreted in different ways both in the East and in the West. Sometimes he becomes close to eastern Sufism, later to western rationalism, sometimes he is a theist and later a deist with an obviously expressed materialistic trend.

This happens because Abay’s philosophy is a concentrated expression of the spirituality of the Kazakh nation. His creative activity is the soul of the entire nation, groaning and suffering for the present and future, and in a frantic blast painfully looking for an answer to existential questions.

The philosophy is valuable and important because it is immanent to the way a human being is defined by his or her epoch, type of sociality, form of communication, culture and ways of its expression, forms of cognition, etc. Personified philosophy fixes and expresses the "points of focus" of various cultures, various types of thinking, and their constructive dialogue with each other. The philosophy of a genius reflects polyphonic communication and therefore is ambiguous, turns out to be beyond time, and carries in itself a potential for what is endless. As Abay wrote, "Only the one who reaches the consciousness of the high spiritual power and without fail unites in himself love and truth with the help of his own skills, thought and experience can be called a wise man and a thinker"15. That is why he is inexhaustible and intransient, remaining a permanent source of inspiration.

There are three sources of Abay’s outlook: the classical poetry of the East, European (Russian) culture, and ancient Kazakh culture. The influence by the East was basically developed in literature, with an emphasis upon the other two sources. As there are different versions of the Eastern influence on Abay, ranging from full negation to the leading role, consideration of the philosophical issues of Abay’s philosophy through the problematics of Islamic philosophy remains an issue nowadays.

Characterizing Abay’s philosophical views from the position of their philosophical foundations, various authors see them in different ways as pantheism, theism, deism, or sometimes even materialism. The latter viewpoint, in my opinion, demonstrates a class approach, dominant within the Soviet totalitarian period. It is difficult to speak of Abay’s materialism, especially if one reads the following lines:

The best proof of Allah’s existence is the fact that for many millenniums people speak of one and same thing in different languages: of the great and infallible God. It doesn’t matter how many religions there are, they all confirm that God is fair and loving.

It was not people who created the world - they only cognize the world created by Allah. People strive for high justice and love, and the one becomes wise who sincerely believes and understands the greatness of Allah. I mean, sincerely believes and understands the greatness of Allah, rather than having been forced to believe in Him16.

Abay is not an atheist. His "inconsistent judgments" served as a "basis" for an atheistic interpretation of the direction of his philosophy in Marxist philosophical literature founded especially on Abay’s critique of the activity of Moslem mullahs and ishans in the Kazakh steppe. However, it is obvious that this or other degrees of unorthodox, free thoughts or anticlericalism, inherent in many outstanding individuals, has nothing in common with godlessness, but only expresses personal nuances of religious belief.

It seems quite obvious that Abay acknowledges Allah and believes in his omnipotence, mercy, love and power. He writes about it in detail in the thirty eighth word which is the core and focus of his religious-philosophical concept, where he unfolds the principle of the unity of Creator and the created.

In Abay’s concept it is necessary clearly and distinctly to separate two layers or approaches to the Creator and to serving him. First when Islam is adopted with clear understanding of why there is belief and its principles are defended, based on the power of reason, and second when they are based on blind faith. This is, to speak in modern terms, the issue of the internal content of religious attitude to the world and its external manifestation, the profound formal aspect of religiosity and religious practice.

In its deep explanation this position of Abay comes close to the position of al-Farabi. The first criticizes everything related to the blind faith and the fear of God produced by external, in this instance, superficial aspects of faith and religious practice. As Abay writes, "the rites you perform are sincere and full of meaning only when you totally acknowledge God’s truth. Ablution and prayers - namazes and fasts must be only external manifestations of conviction. But if you are not imbued with the boundless faith in Allah, then doing these rites becomes the greatest expression of human hypocrisy".17 Therefore, the main thing for each individual person, according to Abay, is to meet two immutable requirements: conviction of faith and an aspiration to understand it. Reason which, according to the Kazakh sage, Allah provides to a human being makes it a part of God. Therefore, Abay is extremely concerned with the issue of reason.

The concept of reason gained Abay fame as the great Kazakh educator who devoted himself to the issue of overcoming the ignorance of the Kazakh people. However, reason is not identical with science. Just as erudition differs from real knowledge, so science differs from its external manifestations where oratory can be said to be wisdom. Thus, there is a difference between reason and science, identical to intellect. The concept of Abay’s reason is closely connected with the concept of God. Reason is an objective universality which if followed makes one reasonable. Reason acts as a universal principle of consciousness which is necessarily connected with the principle of humanity. This is forcefully proclaimed by Abay.

The Principle "Adam bol!" ("Be a man!"), linking the East and West into a united whole, expresses the thrust of his philosophy on the fundamental bases of human being. Humanity ("be a man") is the form of universality that expresses the essence of the traditional Kazakh society as a wholeness to which forms of the people’s contact with one another were leading, where it was human relations rather than the economic and a political that defined moral norms and traditions, thus stipulating the peculiarities of traditional Kazakh society and its special spirituality.

The principle of "Adam bol!" enables us to understand the meaning of bringing reason into the sphere of moral relations for it fixes and characterizes the human contact both from the position of external directivity from person to person and from the position of internal directivity of a person to oneself, a voice of consciousness inside each individual person. Moral behaviour, according to Abay, always makes us act in accord not only with external circumstances, norms, traditions, but also with the internal will, consciously subordinated to one’s own reason. Reasonable behaviour, therefore, is really human behaviour, moral behaviour is reasonable behaviour.

Abay’s views are characterized by the statement that reason is able to control the feelings, emotions, and will of a person Thus, a person cannot and must not remain in captivity to one’s "nature", but must transcend its limits and tower over his nature. Due to education, culture and enrichment by knowledge, a person must improve his or her own natural talents. This is the main direction of Abay’s enlightening concept.

It is necessary to emphasize another important aspect concerning Abay’s personality, the fact that his thoughts on morality did not differ from the practical position of his life, they were his belief. The voice of his conscience, which required that he truthfully comprehend the fate of his own Kazakh nation, required that he speak the truth to his people about himself, even an unpleasant one, for, according to him, people, who do not have a great purpose or general truth, are spiritually dead. And where there is no life, there can be no perfection. This is Abay’s life credo that brought to life a moral requirement of his philosophy "Adam bol!" that became an inexhaustible source of spiritual power for the Kazakh people, its accent on the great way of spiritual perfection. We should develop the human skill to think by heart and not by mind.

Like no one else, Abay, was deeply concerned about the issues of self-determination of the Kazakh people, which explains his thorough critique of the vices of those days. But this was a creative, rather than a destructive critique, needed to move toward future perfection on the way of Reason, Good, Humanity and Justice.

Shakarim Kudayberdiev continued and further developed the ideas of Islamic philosophy in his creative activity. He wrote that after Abay, who has always served as an example for him, died, he chose the way of purity and honesty as the only possible and acceptable way for humanity. This brought him to contemplate on the issues of the meaning of life and to search for the truth which can "be seen by the eyes of the reason", for, as he pointed out, our wit cannot comprehend the reasons of being.

To him the search was identical with the choice of a philosophical position, without which it was impossible to define and develop his practical moral life activity. The choice of the way, with existential tension, was considered by him to be an issue that could be solved either by recognition of the Creator and the eternal life of the soul, or by affirming that everything in the world appears spontaneously, without interference of the Creator and the soul dies with the body.

The methodology of the philosophical research which Shakarim studied in full a