French    German    Spain    Italian    Arabic    Chinese Simplified    Russian

Western Civilisation

Until the advent of materialism and 19th c. dogma, Western Civilisation was  superior to anything Islam had developed.  Islam has not aided in the development of the modern world; in fact civilisation has only been created in spite of Islam.  Proof of this resides in the 'modern' world and the unending political-economic and spiritual poverty of Muslim states and regions.  Squatting on richer civilisations is not 'progress'.  Islam is pagan, totalitarian, and irrational.   

Back     Printer Friendly Version  

Monday, May 19, 2014

Bookmark and Share

Edward Grant and the myth that Medieval man did not know about the fantasy of Aristotle

Another lie exposed, Aristotle has little to do with science anyways

by Ferdinand III


As the Moslem Jihad crucifies Christians under the Pact of Umar in Syria; bombs Chaldean Christian churches with babies inside in Iraq; impels mob violence against Coptic Egyptians; and rapes and enslaves young Christian girls in Nigeria; the sentient, moral observer, divorced from the putrid anti-Christian hate of secular Marxist society; might be forgiven that Islam is a Bronze-age barbarism, better suited to the Mongolian steppes of the early 13th century; or the child-sacrificing Canaanite hill-tops of the 3rd millenium BC, than in the modern world. Question. Would a tribal-fascism, whose main book is openly racist and supremacist be capable of anything other than violence, hate, misogyny and rape ? It answers itself.

In the real world of the 5 senses, our modern society was birthed and developed during the hard-period, which should never be romanticized but which as well, was not 'dark', named rather oddly, 'the Middle Ages'. As if our period is enlightened – see Darwinism, Marxism, Atheism, the atheist-evolutionist death cult of Hitler, globaloneywarming, abortion and euthanasia for more information.

Edward Grant is perhaps the best medieval historian and most accurate in both sources and interpretations [one of his seminal works is reviewed here]. As Grant makes clear, Islam did not invent anything by itself. Any inventions within Moslem lands were the creations of non-Moslems. By the very early 11th century, Islam was ossified, the Ghazali cult of fundamentalist Koranic interpretation and the utter rejection of reality and science, was firmly entrenched within Islam. With the church and state bound together, and the political-economy openly hostile to thinking, individuality and freedom, the Moslem empire and its constituent parts was destined to fail.

As Grant writes; by the end of eleventh century, Western Europeans were aware that both Muslims and Byzantines had access to philosophical and scientific texts that they did not have. After the capture of Toledo, Spain and Sicily from the Muslims in 1085 and 1091, respectively, a number of scholars translated Greek and Arabic texts, but tended to prefer the Greek ones because Greek was a related Indo-European language, which Arabic was not. A large number of the works which existed in Arabic were originally translations from Greek themselves, and it would obviously make more sense to copy directly from the Greek in Constantinople since a more precise rendering could be made, with fewer misinterpretations than from Arabic. The result was a major movement of translations from the twelfth century until the second half of the thirteenth century.

Many works in optics, astronomy, medicine and mathematics were translated, but it was Aristotle's work on natural philosophy that had the greatest impact. The two greatest translators from Greek to Latin were James of Venice (d. after AD 1147), the first major translator of Aristotle's works from Greek to Latin, and the Flemish scholar William of Moerbeke (c. AD 1215-c. 1286), who was the last.

Grant, page 166:
"William of Moerbeke translated at least forty-eight treatises, including seven on mathematics and mechanics by Archimedes, translated for the first time into Latin (Grant 1974, 39-41; Minio-Paluello 1974, 436-438). His Aristotelian translations are truly impressive. He was the first to translate Aristotle's biological works from Greek into Latin. In translating the rest of Aristotle's natural philosophy, Moerbeke found it useful to revise, expand, and even complete some earlier translations, including revisions of at least three treatises previously translated by James of Venice. In addition, Moerbeke translated Greek commentaries on Aristotle's works from late antiquity. Thus, he translated John Philoponus' Commentary on the Soul, and Simplicius' Commentary on the Heavens. One of the earliest beneficiaries of Moerbeke's translations was Thomas Aquinas."
Grant continues on page 167: Arab translations ?
"With Moerbeke's monumental contributions, all of Aristotle's natural philosophy was available by the last quarter of the thirteenth century in translations from Greek and Arabic. Although many scientific works were translated from Arabic to Latin in the first half of the twelfth century by such translators as Plato of Tivoli, Adelard of Bath, Robert of Chester, Hermann of Carinthia, Dominicus Gundissalinus, Peter Alfonso, John of Seville, and others, the earliest translations of Aristotle's works on natural philosophy appear to have occurred in Spain in the latter half of the twelfth century. By far the most prominent translator of Aristotle's works on natural philosophy was Gerard of Cremona (c. A.D. 1114-1187), the most prolific translator from Arabic to Latin of works on science, medicine, and natural philosophy."

Gerard of Cremona and those associated with him translated dozens of works from Arabic to Latin, among them probably Alhazen's book on Optics, which could not have been translated from Greek since it did not exist in Greek. It is thus true that there were translations from Arabic and that some of these did have some impact in Europe. It would be historically inaccurate to claim otherwise. But although this translation movement was significant, we should focus at least as much on how these different civilizations used this information.
Grant's last point is key. Moslems and Arabs did not invent anything of note. Perhaps their slavish devotion to Aristotle – itself a non-science – might show some limited 'intellectual energy', but the Moslems and Arabs never proved the ancient Greeks right or wrong. They never built upon their ideas, nor did they challenge them. Much of Aristotle is pure gibberish of course. It stultified thinking for 2000 years – abiogenesis ? cosmos did not move ? the earth was 'still' ? plants could become fauna ? Some Aristotelian nonsense still clouds judgements even today. In any event, the Moslems did not improve or disprove any aspect of this non-science.

Article Comments:

Related Articles:

Islamic history


7/4/2022:  Abraham's Son Ishmael is not related to Muhammad, nor the 'Father' of the Arabs

6/20/2022:  St. John of Damascus and his criticism of the Muhammandan cult.

7/8/2020:  Islam’s endless expansion

5/15/2020:  Why does no one discuss Arab Imperialism?

3/19/2020:  The Muslim Millet System – an imperialist tool.

3/15/2017:  Sura 3 and the Battles of Badr & Uhud - Jihad is mandatory for Moslems

4/27/2015:  Belloc and the primitive, savage Turk who was a perfect fit for the cult of Muhammad.

3/2/2015:  Moslem Jihad is the opposite of the Christian idea of waging war.

1/29/2015:  Muhammadan Jihad against Syria and the Byzantines. A turning point in history.

5/19/2014:  Edward Grant and the myth that Medieval man did not know about the fantasy of Aristotle

5/19/2014:  Edward Grant and the poverty of the Islamic church merged with the state

1/10/2014:  Islam's war against Christ's church

1/8/2014:  Hise and the Moslem war against the Christian world

1/7/2014:  Islam hates Christianity - it always has, it always will.

10/13/2011:  Will the Great Man the uncreated Obama, go back to Cairo and apologize?

9/14/2011:  Allah's pagan shrine was built in 1000 B.C. ?

8/8/2011:  Idi Amin, another Moslem despot – or maybe he was a 'Christian'?

7/29/2011:  John Gilchrist and Islamic paganism

7/21/2011:  Cults don't tolerate Infidel shrines.

6/10/2011:  Hitti and the Moon Deity or Allah

6/8/2011:  Intro to: 'History of the Arabs', by Philip K. Hitti, 1937 10th edition 2002.

4/23/2011:  Constantinople 1453

4/2/2011:  Islamic imperialism was total, not 'tolerant'

1/26/2011:  The Muslim Jihad against Russia. Without Russian resolve, half of Europe would be Islamic.

1/25/2011:  Chechnya and the Jihad against Russia. 800 years of Muslim aggression.

1/22/2011:  Muslim Barbarity in the 14th century in India.

1/20/2011:  Muslim Barbarity in the 14th and 15th centuries; a short list

1/2/2011:  Muslim barbarity: 12th and 13th centuries

PDF 12/15/2010   Excerpt from Paganism and Fascism, Chapter 4 - pages 140 to 141

12/9/2010:  Muslim barbarity: 10th and 11th centuries

PDF 12/8/2010   Excerpt from Paganism and Fascism, Chapter 4 - pages 138 to 139

PDF 12/6/2010   Excerpt from Paganism and Fascism, Chapter 4 - pages 136 to 137

12/4/2010:  Muslim barbarity against the Infidel – the 9th century.

11/30/2010:  Muslim barbarity against the Infidel – the 8th century.

11/26/2010:  Muslim barbarity against the Infidel – the 7th century.

PDF 11/22/2010   Excerpt from Paganism and Fascism, Chapter 4 – Party and Leader - pages 134 to 135

PDF 11/18/2010   Excerpt from Paganism and Fascism, Chapter 4 on The Islamic Moon Cult - pages 132 to 133

PDF 11/15/2010   Excerpt from Paganism and Fascism, Chapter 4 on The Islamic Moon Cult - pages 130 to 131

PDF 11/9/2010   Excerpt from Paganism and Fascism, Chapter 4 on The Islamic Moon Cult - pages 128 to 129

7/15/2009:  July 15 1099 – one of the great days in history. Jeru-salem retaken.

5/22/2008:  Islam's imperialist nature – never discussed, never revealed.

3/16/2008:  Tours, Lepanto, Vienna, now Iraq and Kosovo

5/4/2007:  The disaster of Arab Imperialism