A Method for Reconstructing the Medieval Arabic Scientific Mosaic

Abstract

There are good reasons to think that there was a body of truths generally accepted by the scientific community under Abbasid rule during the middle ages. However, the indicators initially established by the scientonomy community to guide us in reconstructing past mosaics are not applicable in the case of the medieval Arabic scientific mosaic. Instead, by attending to the particular way that knowledge was disseminated in this community, we can see the primacy of the concepts passed down in authoritative texts. It is proposed here that a good way of determining which texts, and therefore theories, were accepted would be by tracking the unique record of licenses to teach [ʾijāzāt] particular texts that exist from this period. Suggested Modifications [Sciento-2017-0003]: Accept the following propositions concerning MASM in c. 750-1258 CE in the Abbasid caliphate: • Authoritative texts are indicative of theories accepted in MASM. • Licenses to teach [ʾijāzāt] are reliable indicators of which texts were considered authoritative in MASM. Accept that the following method ought to be employed when reconstructing the theories accepted in MASM: • Teaching License Method: A proposition can be said to be accepted in MASM if the evidence of the licenses to teach [ʾijāzāt] indicates so.

Keywords

• observational scientonomy
• indicators of acceptance
• method
• scientific mosaic
• medieval science
• Arabic science