Středověká islámská věda – vznik a význam z hlediska anachronního a diachronního přístupu ke zkoumání dějin vědy

Abstract

This paper deals with medieval Islamic science, its specific features and circumstances of its origins. At the same time, it examines historiographical strategies used in the history of science, namely anachronical and diachronical attitudes, as applied to the study of medieval Islamic science, with focus on the field of medicine. The author presents the latest trends in the historiography of Arabic-Islamic science represented by G. Saliba and exemplified in his publication Islamic Science and the Making of the European Renaissance. Saliba comes up with a sharp criticism of the exponents of the so-called classical narrative, which advocates the evolutionary conception of the origin, development and transmission of scientific knowledge. The paper sheds light on the procedures of some historiographical works with the aim to characterize the prevailing methodological trends.