IBN al-Haytham’s revision of the Euclidean foundations of mathematics

Ahmad Ighbariah, Roy Wagner

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This article studies Ibn al-Haytham’s treatment of the common notions from Euclid’s Elements (usually referred to today as the axioms). We argue that Ibn al-Haytham initiated a new approach with regard to these foundational statements, rejecting their qualification as innate, self-evident, or primary. We suggest that Ibn al-Haytham’s engagement with experimental science, especially optics, led him to revise the framing of Euclidean common notions in a way that would fit his experimental approach.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)62-86
Number of pages25
JournalHOPOS
Volume8
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 2018

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • History and Philosophy of Science

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