388 chapter 9
However, one should note that Müteferrika was not the only writer to rely on
Aristotle during the “Tulip Period” and beyond. Yanyalı Es’ad Efendi (d. 1731), a
major intellectual figure of the period and, significantly, one who spoke Greek
and frequented Greek circles (which were themselves undergoing their own
Aristotelian renaissance), had translated Aristotle’s Physics (or rather, a Latin
commentary of the ancient work) into Arabic. Furthermore, intellectual life
during Ahmed III’s reign was characterized by a regeneration of Aristotelian
philosophy, with a marked tendancy to purge Aristotle’s work of the neo-
Platonic ideas added by Avicenna and al-Farabi.19 Nor was this phenomenon
exclusively or predominantly due to the impact of European influence: it was
remarked earlier that Iranian influences were clearly present during the “Tulip
Period” and that its “Westernizing” aspect has been overestimated.20
Es’ad Efendi’s example shows that Müteferrika’s breach with Ottoman po-
litical tradition was perhaps more than a simple result of his Christian origins.
What is also important, as far as it concerns Müteferrika’s novelties, is that au-
thors of this period “often celebrated both natural philosophy and bid’at”;21 in
this vein, Müteferrika’s innovative ideas on reform, as well as his Aristotelian
views on society and politics, would fit well together in the intellectual climate
of early eighteenth-century Istanbul. The way he writes about the role of print-
ed books in society is striking, considering the history of the term bid’at:22
The ancients always made fine innovations (ibd’â). Modern scholars are
no more hesitant than the ancients in coming up with new rules and laws
by which to organize empires and nations. Writing has helped them pre-
serve their histories and perpetuate their respective orders.Furthermore, one should emphasize the role played in this trend by Greek
scholars and magnates such as Chrysanthos Notaras (who was correspond-
ing with Es’ad Efendi) and Nikolaos Mavrokordatos. Around the same time
(c. 1740), even a provincial müfti such as Mahmud Efendi of Athens could
write a detailed history of ancient Athens, based on a Greek historical trea-
tise through Greek intermediaries.23 It is interesting that he also describes
19 See Küçük 2012 and 2013; on translation activity during this period cf. Şeşen 2004. The role
of Greek scholars in this trend has been also noted by Ortaylı 2001, 41.
20 Erimtan 2007.
21 Küçük 2013, 130, and fn. 20.
22 As translated by Küçük 2012, 164. The quotation comes from Müteferrika’s Vesiletü’t-tıb’a
(“The virtues of printing”), the preface to the first book printed by his press (1729).
23 Tunalı Koç 2006; Mahmud Efendi – Tunalı 2013; Tunalı 2014.