The Philosophy of Greek Mathematics and its Influence on the Development of Arab Civilization and Renaissance

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Athens, Greece.

Abstract

Speaking about classical studies, we usually mean the study of ancient Greek and Latin literature, history, and philosophy that has come to us through the magnificent works of distinguished ancient writers. But a characteristic feature of Greek Philosophy was the consideration of the world and the ideas as one entity that cannot be studied separately. Thus, the Greeks developed Philosophy parallel to Mathematics, since the leading philosophers as Thales, Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle were pioneers in the development of Mathematics and Physics, as a necessary means for revealing the secrets of Nature and the world around us.
           These philosophers had traveled to Egypt and Babylon and were acquainted with the knowledge of the civilization thereof. They did not confine themselves to obtaining the results, but they searched for proofs and further development of the received ideas and knowledge. Greeks, spread from the Italian peninsula to Asia Minor, formulated mathematics as a theoretical discipline, built on abstract notions rather than sensible objects, using formal demonstrations to prove the truth of their theorems. 

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