SCIENCE AND CIVILIZATION IN ISLAM Seyyed Hossein Nasr (original) (raw)
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The debate on Islam and Modernity continues to be an interesting one especially as it concerns the area of science and philosophy which are the two most important shapers of the contemporary modern world-view. Likewise, the debate on whether there is Islamic science and philosophy or not is an on going one in the Muslim world as some Muslim modernists, like Pervez Hoodbhoy, have taken the position that there is nothing like Islamic science and philosophy. It is therefore pertinent at this time of confusion and miscommunication to highlight, especially to the Muslim Youths and intellectuals who are interested in the study of Islam, what constitute Islamic science and philosophy and why it is different from what is known today as modern science and philosophy. It is in the light of the above that this paper intends to bring to fore the meaning of Islamic science and philosophy and how it is different from modern science and philosophy by looking at the work of one of the contemporary Muslim philosopher, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, and how, in his view, Islamic science and philosophy are different from modern science and philosophy.
Natural Philosophy [in Islamicate Societies], 100-700/700-1300 [2022]
In: Routledge Handbook on the Sciences in Islamicate Societies: Practices from the 2nd/8th to the 13th/19th Centuries. Edited by Sonja Brentjes with Peter Barker and Rana Brentjes. London: Routledge, 2022
Philosophy, as it was conceived in the Islamicate world, was "science" in its broadest terms. It was divided into theoretical sciences, practical sciences and applied sciences. While applied sciences included, for example, astrology, agriculture and medicine, practical sciences comprised, for instance, ethics and politics. The theoretical sciences, in turn, split into four areas: logic, mathematics, natural philosophy and metaphysics. Of these, natural philosophy was further divided into seven "particular" investigations. These were concerned with the heavenly bodies, the elements, meteorological phenomena, minerals, plants, animals and the soul, respectively. Additionally, one fundamental or "common" science – called "physics" – covered all concepts immediately relevant not only for all the seven particular disciplines within natural philosophy but also for a number of the applied sciences such as medicine and astrology. It is important to understand that the term "natural philosophy" was not synonymous with "physics" but demarcated a wide scientific area concerned with the exploration of all the aspects and the inner governing structures of the corporeal world, whereas "physics" was but one – if the most essential – of its disciplines. This contribution outlines salient points of theory and practice in natural philosophy as well as their development within Islamicate Societies from the second/eighth to the eighth/fourteenth century.
Öz: Understanding of science of Islam and West can only be comprehended within the context of the related civilisations that each has a sui generis worldviews and cosmos conceptualisation originated from their beliefs and cultures. Understanding of science of Islam is a motivation aspiring after the happiness and spiritual maturity of the individual and society, representing monotheistic knowledge, perception of existence and value that strive to prioritise the will of Allah and His intent of creating. Techno-science of the Western civilisation has preferred the constructional truth to the understanding of absolute based on the scientific knowledge targeting to instrumentalise this ideological science approach for the purpose of market economy, power and comfort, to realise the enslavement and colonialization. This paper aims, in light of philosophy, to deal with the main reasons for this situation originating from the presentation of Islamic civilisation as "primitive" and "backward" in the field of knowledge/science and Muslims suffering from this disregard and condescension against the techno-scientific progress and capital domination of the western civilisation. Abstract: İslâm ve Batı'nın bilim anlayışı, ancak ilişkili oldukları inanç ve kültür köklerinden neşet eden kendine özgü dünya görüşü ve evren tasavvuruna sahip medeniyetleri bağlamında anlaşılabilir. İslâm'ın ilim/bilim anlayışı bireyin ve toplumun kemâlini ve mutluluğunu amaçlayan bir motivasyona sahiptir. Öyle ki o, Allah'ın iradesini ve onun yaratma gayesini önceleyen tevhidî bir bilgi, varlık ve değer algısını taşımaktadır. Buna karşın Batı medeniyetinin tekno-bilimi, mutlak hakikat anlayışı yerine inşâî (itibârî) hakikati benimsemiştir. Söz konusu ideolojik bilim yaklaşımı piyasa ekonomisi, güç ve konforu hedeflemiş, kölelik ve sömürüyü hedefleyerek onları yüceltmiştir. Bu makale, özellikle son iki yüzyılda Batı medeniyetinin tekno-bilimsel gelişimi ve dünya üzerindeki kapital tahakkümü karşısında İslâm medeniyetinin bilim/ilim anlayışının geri, çaresiz ve Müslüman toplumların mahkûm ve mazlum olduğu gerçeğinden hareketle bu durumun temel nedenlerini felsefî bakış açısıyla ele alarak her iki medeniyetin bu bağlamda tasvirini yapmayı hedeflemektedir.