Ibn Kammûna’s Thought of the Universe

Abstract

ABSTRACT

In the Middle Age, philosophers, who grounded on Aristotle's philosophy of nature and Ptolemy's understanding of the universe, improved important developments about physics and the universe. The inconsistency between Ptolemy's mathematical models and Aristotle's theory of physics revealed critical studies against the Greek scientific tradition that began with Ibn al-Haytham (d.1039). Thus in the 13th century, the alternative universe models have been created thanks to the physical and mathematical perspectives of scientists such as Bitrûcî (d.1217), Müeyyedüddîn al-Urdî (d.1266), Nasîruddîn at-Tûsî (d.1274) and Necmeddîn al-Kâtibî al-Kazwînî (d.1276). Scientists have created alternative universe models through their physical and mathematical perspectives. This accumulation moved up Qutbuddîn ash-Shîrâzî (d.1311) and Ibn Shatir (d. 1375), who grew up in the next century, into an important level in astronomy. In the West, Copernicus, starting from his theories, discovered the Sun-centered universe model and opened the doors of scientific revolution. In the West, Copernicus, starting from these theories, discovered the Sun-centered universe model and opened the doors of the scientific revolution.

Sad b. Mansur Ibn Kammûna (d.1284) who is the subject of article, is a contemporary of the aforementioned scientists. He wrote summaries, cited references and corresponded to philosophical problems about their works. He also commented on the works of great philosophers in the history of Islamic philosophy such as Avicenna (d.1037) and Suhrawardî (d.1191). Therefore wrote the works in the fields of logic, physics, metaphysics, astronomy, medicine and chemistry by following science and philosophy in the previous period and his period. The philosopher, who originally belonged to a Jewish family, spent most of his life in Baghdad. In this period that tradition of Islamic philosophy continued with paraphrases in particular, there is need to examine interdisiplinary individual works to see how scientists interpreted and transferred knowledge which was inherited to them and how they discussed on physical interpretation of the universe in a holistic way. As a matter of fact, this is the only way that scientific knowledge is evaluated and authenticity will be revealed. For this reason, in our article, we will examine Ibn Kammûna's understanding of the universe. His theory of the universe has metaphysical and cosmological content and also has the impact of astronomy. In this context, we will first consider how the universe came into being based on the philosopher's thoughts. Then we will give information about celestial minds, celestial bodies and events that occur under the effect of formation-deterioration on the earth based on the distinction between the above-the-moon and the below-the-moon realms. Finally we will try to determine whether this has a contribution in terms of philosophy and history of science.