Epistemological Optimism In The Islamic Golden Age

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Recommended: An essay on optimism

Sarah Daher, Jack Delano, Angelica Cvetkovic
Professor Clifford Siskin
Optimism and Knowledge
Spring 2016

Epistemological Optimism in the Islamic Golden Age

Epistemological optimism is not the belief that any given piece of knowledge should be accepted and is true, but rather that it is possible to really know something, this must involve a philosophy in which the possibility for knowledge is present. Epistemological optimism is a new term in all senses. The word optimism itself was used for the first time in French in 1737. However, when speaking of epistemological optimism as a philosophical stance rather than a psychological attitude there are countless historical examples where epistemological optimism was present in one way or another. …show more content…

He was born near Farab, Turkestan in 870 AD and dedicated his lifetime to exploring the areas of science, philosophy, education, and religion. One of his most notable achievements was trying to bridge the ideas of epistemology and religion together. Al-Farabi believed that God was the creator of all; therefore all knowledge came from him. This clearly led him to the conclusion that there is one true and absolute reality and this reality could be known as long as one developed his intellect and his morality. This is an attitude that points to epistemological optimism, because Al-Farabi sees the philosophers and scholars as sources of enlightenment and thinks that they should guide people on this journey to reach the certainly attainable …show more content…

He acknowledges the world and the cosmos as infinite, but he does not believe that their infinite nature prevent them from being knowable. Given infinite time, it is possible to know the infinitude of the world. Not only is the world knowable, but humans have the faculty to know it. Logic is regarded as a tool that guarantees precision in scientific reasoning, safeguarding science from assumption and fallacies. Ibn Sina’s process for knowledge acquisition is broken up into three parts, first he describes a knowledge of the principles. These principles may be common to a number of things, but they are basic in that they are the essence. Knowledge of principles then allows knowledge of the common thing. From that, stems knowledge of the specific thing. Only those who seek specific things know them. Finally, Ibn Sina’s belief that knowledge can bring about change is illustrated in his description of a physician. He says that it is through the physician’s knowledge that a patient can be cured. Here we see the building blocks of epistemological

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