Fatigati (2017)

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Fatigati, Michael. (2017) A Method for Reconstructing the Medieval Arabic Scientific Mosaic. Scientonomy 1, 19-28. Retrieved from https://www.scientojournal.com/index.php/scientonomy/article/view/27761.

Title A Method for Reconstructing the Medieval Arabic Scientific Mosaic
Resource Type journal article
Author(s) Michael Fatigati
Year 2016
Journal Scientonomy
Volume 1
Pages 19-28

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 widely accepted would be by tracking the unique record of licenses to teach [ʾijāzat] particular texts that exist from this period.

Suggested Modifications

Here are all the modifications suggested in Fatigati (2017):

  • Sciento-2017-0003: Accept that licenses to teach [ʾijāzāt] are reliable indicators of which texts were considered authoritative in the Medieval Arabic scientific mosaic (MASM) in c. 750-1258 CE in the Abbasid caliphate. Thus, a proposition can be said to be accepted in MASM if the evidence of the licenses to teach [ʾijāzāt] indicates so. The modification was suggested to Scientonomy community by Michael Fatigati on 27 January 2017.1 The modification was accepted on 16 October 2021. Commentators agreed that Fatigati provided "a compelling case for the power of ‘authoritative texts’ to serve as indicators of accepted theories in MASM"c1 and that "it is perfectly reasonable to rely on authoritative texts to determine what was a part of the MASM".c2 It was also noted that we must "take the idea of the MASM as a monolithic community with a grain of salt",c3 which is in tune with Fatigati's own position. Fatigati's modification was also praised "as an exemplar for future work in observational scientonomy" especially as due to its potential to spur "further interest in studies of scientific mosaics outside of the immediate Western tradition".c4 It was noted that this "type of research will need to be carried out on a very large scale if observational scientonomy is to achieve its lofty goals". Specifically, research focusing on various "small communities" could potentially "bring some observational evidence into the discussion of Necessary Elements" and "might prove of interest for future scientonomists interested in exploring the Role of Sociocultural Factors in Scientific Change".c5


References

  1. ^  Fatigati, Michael. (2017) A Method for Reconstructing the Medieval Arabic Scientific Mosaic. Scientonomy 1, 19-28. Retrieved from https://www.scientojournal.com/index.php/scientonomy/article/view/27761.