(September 20, 2022 at 1:33 pm)R00tKiT Wrote:(September 20, 2022 at 1:08 pm)polymath257 Wrote: Hmmm... the 'logical outcome' of Greek mathematics was something that needed to be changed. The Greeks, after the discovery of irrational ratios, had a split between numbers and geometry that was a significant hindrance to the development of mathematics. It was Islamic scholars that *started* the reunification of those two subjects (the simple example of a 'number line' is one that no Greek mathematician would have allowed and is due to an Islamic scholar). the Italian renaissance and subsequent enlightenment relied heavily on texts that were translated from Arabic and the ideas elaborated from those texts by Islamic scholars.
Al Ghazali was anything but quiet. His arguments were the prime ones that lead to the suppression of the philosophers and those willing to integrate 'foreign science' into their system.
Al Ghazali, in his famous the incoherence of the philosophers, grew tired of too much speculation about metaphysical issues related to religious belief, which is to say that many thinkers chose to invent their own philosophical system instead of relying on scripture (the Qur'an and the prophet's saying), his reaction was very understandable.
We know now that must philosophical arguments about divine foreknowledge, predestination, free will, whether the Qur'an is created or eternal, etc that were presented in medieval times are simply wrong -that's why you have modern philosophy of religion-. Al Ghazali understood that skirmishing about these issues is a dead end, and that the solution really is a correct understanding of the Qur'an, instead of trying to replace the Qur'an because you think you're a smart-ass
Exactly the characteristics of a fundamentalist: they think they have the one, true answer and nobody should debate it.
The reason religious debates are pointless is because there is no way to prove either side right OR wrong. They are *pure* speculation over nonsense claims. There is no 'correct' interpretation of the Quran or the Bible or the Bagavad Gita. There are *only* questions about what the original authors thought. But those authors were wrong in their ideas.
But that doesn't mean such discussion should be banned. It just means it should be done over good alcohol.
