The aim of this course is to approach the phenomenon of communication from a philosophical perspective and to explain the relationship between fundamental concepts such as truth, power, freedom, language, ideology, and the Other, and everyday communication practices. By comparing the conceptions of communication developed by different philosophical traditions from Ancient Greece to the present (including Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Enlightenment thinkers, Marx, Nietzsche, Sartre, Foucault, McLuhan, etc.), the course evaluates how these perspectives can be employed to analyze contemporary issues in media, politics, and digital culture (such as disinformation, echo chambers, surveillance society, post-truth conditions, and polarizing discourse). Furthermore, it aims to develop a critical perspective on current and potential problems in this field by discussing the philosophical foundations of a communication language that promotes democratic participation and avoids conflictual and polarizing forms of expression.

The course will first address the emergence of philosophy and its relationship with knowledge and science, followed by an examination of the communication theories of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle in Ancient Greece. The transformation of philosophy and communication in the Christian era will be discussed within the framework of Augustine and Scholastic thought. With the Renaissance, Reformation, and Enlightenment, the “triumph of reason” and the revolution in communication will be analyzed; the relationship between public sphere, modernity, and communication will be evaluated through Kant, Rousseau, Habermas, and Baudelaire. Marx and Nietzsche will be used to critically examine communication in terms of ideology, truth, and perspectivism, while Sartre’s existentialism will be employed to interrogate communication in relation to freedom, the Other, and responsibility. McLuhan and Innis will be discussed in the context of technological determinism, and Foucault’s work will be used to analyze power, discourse, and the surveillance society. In the final section of the course, a general assessment will be made of the philosophy of the digital age (network society, artificial intelligence, post-truth) as well as the relationship between communication, philosophy, and culture in Turkey.