Internalismus a externalismus v historiografii arabsko-islámské vědy se zaměřením na medicínu

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the internalism/externalism issue as reflected in the historiography of medieval Arabic/Islamic science with focus on medicine. The introductory part touches on the theoretical aspects of the internalist/externalist debate; it looks at the internalist/ externalist dichotomy, discusses the gradual shift to the eclectic approach and traces the current trends in terms of approaches to the study of the history of science in general. The main part of the paper is devoted to analyzing and assessing some selected articles and publications on medieval Arabic/Islamic science and medicine with view to the internalist/ externalist approaches used by their authors. The conclusions drawn reveal the prevalence of the internalist approach in works written in the more distant past, while most of the current studies, especially those authored by Western scholars, reflect the impact of the social history of science with its specific methods.