To recognize his valuable contributions to philosophy and to honor his many contributions to the field of philosophy as a world-renowned philosopher and a seeker of knowledge and understanding, Boğaziçi University, Department of Philosophy has begun in December 2015 to award an annual “Arda Denkel Prize.“.

The first three of these prizes were given at The Arda Denkel Festival held in December 2015 in memory of Arda Denkel who passed away on May 21, 2000. The awards were given to Boğaziçi University Philosophy Department graduates, who had the honor and opportunity of meeting Arda Denkel.

Graduates who received the prize in 2015 made the following remarks on Arda Denkel;

Zeynep Direk, Faculty member at Koç University:

“As a student of Arda Denkel, I have many memories of him. He loved what he was doing. He would prepare for his class like an actor preparing to perform on stage. He would wake up at 5 o’clock in the morning to prepare for his Ontology class in the afternoon. I remember him asking me one day; “Zeynep, Can you imagine, they are paying me for what I love to do. “ I learned a lot from him during my six years at Boğaziçi, but the most important thing was; Don’t expect to make money in this field. Philosophy is not about making money, and it is not a profession. Philosophy is an enthusiasm for argumentative thinking and to enjoy introducing new approaches open to criticism of others. Philosophy is about thinking together. “

Fiona Tomkinson, Faculty member at Yeditepe University:

“I was very touched and honored to be awarded the Arda Denkel Prize. Although I did not have the privilege to be as close to Arda as some of my contemporaries who worked with him as a supervisor, I admired him very much as a man, an academic and a philosopher. He was also unfailingly kind to me during the difficult days when I began studying philosophy at Boğaziçi but was unable to attend lectures due to work commitments, getting by on lecture notes given to me by my fellow-student, İrem Kurtsal, whom I little thought would one day be Chair of the Philosophy Department. Arda and I also shared a love of Oxford- and I remember speaking to him about the engravings of Oxford colleges in his office at Boğaziçi. Like so many others, I cannot forget the tragic last months of his life and the outpouring of grief and love after his death. I also have the sad memories of leaving flowers outside his hospital room and of going to visit his grave with Stephen Voss..”

Barış Çetin Eren, Faculty member at Marmara University:

“Professor Denkel was actually the first person I met at the department. The day after the university entrance exam results were issued, he called our house (apparently he called my high school and obtained my phone number from them). He wanted to understand why I, as somebody with the highest score in the university entrance exam, would choose to study at the philosophy department of Boğaziçi. He interrogated me for 10-15 minutes on the phone. Then he invited me to his office at Boğaziçi and wanted to discuss my future plans. At the time, I wasn’t planning on continuing my studies in Turkey. I rather wanted to go to the United States and try to apply to American universities from there. He convinced me to stay in Turkey and apply from here. I listened to him and it was a decision that has probably changed the course of my life. I guess he would not have been happy with the result but I am still thankful to him. Throughout my undergraduate life I was lucky enough to attend his epistemology and ontology classes. In all of these classes he was provocative in the positive sense of the word. And it was his challenging attitude that made his classes, despite my disagreements, very enriching and unforgettable. Throughout my academic life I have not seen any other academician who took his object of analysis, questions and answers so seriously. And it was this seriousness, I believe, that compels anyone who had even a small conversation with him to respect him. “

About Prof. Dr. Arda Denkel:

Arda Denkel graduated from Saint Benoit High School in 1968 and from Middle Eastern Technical University (ODTU), Faculty of Architecture, City and Regional Planning Department in 1972. The same year he began studying philosophy at Oxford University. Upon receiving his PhD in philosophy from Oxford, he returned to Turkey and began to give lectures on philosophy of language and epistemology, history of philosophy and theory of knowledge at Boğaziçi University. He received the “Professor” title in 1988 and pursued his career at Boğaziçi until his death in 2000.

Denkel was a guest lecturer at The University of Wisconsin in 1985 and 1989, and gave lectures at Uludağ University in 1994 and at Koç University during 1995-1997. Denkel, who was one of the few Turkish philosophers who managed to enter The Philosopher’s Index, was also a member of the Turkish Academy of Sciences (TÜBA) and European Philosophy of Science Association (EPSA). Denkel published many scholarly articles and several philosophical books both in Turkish and English.