Knowledge Exchange in the Mediterranean (9th-16th Centuries)
The intention of the conference is to outline a thoughtful balance of the studies relating to the communication of science and philosophy in the Mediterranean world.
The most advanced research on the great translations from Syriac into Arabic during the 8th century and from Arabic into Latin in the 12th century will be presented, with particular attention to the Greek scientific texts of Euclid, Archimedes, Ptolemy, Diofant, Dioscorid, and Apollonius and to the works of the great philosophers Plato, Aristoteles, Temistius, Simplicius. The interdisciplinary approach, which does not separate the history of science from that of philosophy and rational theology, is fundamental in that it more adequately reflects the context in which these sciences were cultivated in the Arab-Latin area of the Mediterranean. The conference moreover proposes to build a connection between the history of science and philosophy and contemporary debate, seeking to bring forth the transformations and developments that derived from the encounters between different cultures and knowledges, between the scientific, philosophical and religious traditions, from the Hellenistic world to the Arab-Hebrew-Latin world. The objective is to offer an expanded awareness of the studies on knowledge exchange in the Mediterranean area relative to a little-known period.
The conference will take place in Florence, at the Facoltà di Scienze della Formazione, Via del Parione 7.
Papers will be presented in French, English, Italian and Spanish.