Onlogic and methodic experiment in Avicennian epistemology

Abstract

The article deals with the problem of the formation of the scientific method in the teaching of the great Islamic philosopher Ibn Sina/Avicenna (980—1037) as it is presented in his voluminous encyclopedic work Al-Shifa’ / The Healing. The author bases on two logical Books from Al-Shifa’ (al-Madhal and al-Burhan). One of the main questions raised in this article is Ibn Sinas’ evaluation of the place of logic in the system of sciences: whether it makes a part of them or serves only as an instrument in the scientific investigation as it was characteristic for Aristotle and Aristotelian tradition. Of particular significance of Avicennian approach towards logic for later medieval debates and refutations is his notion that knowledge depends on the inquiry of essential logical definitions through syllogistic reasoning. Knowledge is connected with the natural, methodical experiment (tajriba), which can help to discover the universal principles of science that are based on senses. Such a conception of experience, as outlined in The Healing, anticipates the inductive logic and the scientific method that emerged in Europe of the Modern Age.