The Unity of Science in the Arabic Tradition. Science, Logic, Epistemology and their Interactions

International Colloquium

The Unity of Science in the Arabic Tradition. Science, Logic, Epistemology and their Interactions

LISBON, OCTOBER 29-30, 2009
FCUL, Amphitheatre of FCUL’s Foundation (Building C1, Level 3) 


Contact: Centro Filosofia das Ciências cdlisboa@fc.ul.pt

Theme of the Colloquium

In his The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Kuhn develops a non-cumulative conception of the development of science. Indeed, in his view not only has the Copernican model introduced a major discontinuity in the history of science but the new paradigm and the old paradigm are incommensurable i.e. the gap between the two models are so huge that the changes introduced in the new model cannot be understood in terms of the concepts of the old one. By gathering several recent studies on Arabic Science, Logic and Epistemology, the aim of the colloquium is to examine to what extent the study of the Arabic tradition can bridge the gap assumed by Kuhn as a historical fact. It will give the world's leading scholars and experts the opportunity to discuss, in the light of new recently obtained results, the validity of Kuhn's thesis, the relevance of traditional dichotomies: Western/Eastern thought, modern/ancient science, and so on and to explore new lines of research aimed at providing a better explanation of the development of science as whole.
In this general context, one of the main reasons of holding the colloquium is to promote the dialogue between some of the authors of the volume The Unity of Science in the Arabic Tradition (edited par Rahman, Street and Tahiri, Springer 2008, xiii - 390 pp.) and to open the discussion with experts in their respected field. The discussion of the contributors to the volume and the new communications should therefore be conducted in the context of the emergence of a new interpretation of the historical role played by the Arabic tradition in the development of science. Based on new historical evidence, this newly emerging interpretation argues that Arabic scientific practice was originally developed as a counter-model by attempting to put to the test the Greek scientific discourse and its emergence as a counter-model was closely linked to the normative status traditionally accorded to controversies in Arabic culture.


Programme


29 Octobre 2009

14.30h - 15h - Welcoming Session (Hassan Tahiri, Olga Pombo, Shahid Rahman, Roshdi Rashed, Director of the IFP)


Moderator: M. Roshdi Rashed

15h - 15h45 - Avicenna on the Quantification of the Predicate, by Ahmad Hasnaoui (Fellow Researcher at the CNRS, Paris-France)


15h45 - 16h Discussion


16h - 16h45 - La méthode logique des philosophes arabes: catégories, topiques, rhétorique, by Ali Benmakhlouf (Professor of Philosophy at the University of Nice, France)


16h45 - 17h Discussion


Coffee break



17.30h - 18.15h - Kuhn, Lakatos and Duhem on the Copernican Revolution. How Kuhn’s interpretation prevailed, Lakatos’ challenge failed and Duhem’s vindication is still ignored, by Hassan Tahiri (Fellow Researcher at the CFCUL, Lisboa-Portugal)


18.15h-18h30 Discussion


Dinner


30 Octobre 2009


Moderator: M. Michel Paty



9.30h - 10.15h - L'unité de la science chez Ibn Hazm, by Ahmed Alami (President of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Kenitra, Morocco)


10.15h - 10h30 Discussion


10.30h - 11.15h - Découvrir et démontrer : l'exemple d'al-Sijzi, by Pascal Crozet (Directeur du Laboratoire de Philosophie et d'Histoire des Sciences (UMR 7219), CNRS, Paris-France)


11.15h - 11h30 Discussion


Coffee break


12h - 12h45 - Modernité mathématique et tradition arabe, by Roshdi Rashed (Director Emeritus of Research at the CNRS, Paris-France)


12h45 - 13h Discussion


Lunch Break



Moderator: M. Ali Benmakhlouf



14.30h - 15.15h - Models of Causality in Islamic Philosophy, by Catarina Belo (Professor of Islamic Philosophy at the American University in Cairo, Egypt)


15.15h - 15h30 Discussion

15.30h - 16.15h - Remarques comparatives sur la démonstration et l'invention dans l'accroissement des connaissances, by Michel Paty (Directeur de recherche émérite au CNRS, EQUIPE REHSEIS-Laboratoire de Philosophie et d'Histoire des Sciences-UMR 7219, Paris-France)


16.15h - 16h30 Discussion

Coffee break



17h - 18.30h - Round Table (all speakers plus Henrique Leitão (CIHCT), Shahid Rahman (Lille III), Olga Pombo (CFCUL)




Closing Dinner at the Fábrica Braço de Prata


If not a speaker but interested in joining the dinner of October 30th, please fill the inscription form attached and send it to cfcul@fc.ul.pt



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Nota: acabei de ver a clássica obra do Khun traduzida em português nas livrarias!