Scientific Methodologies in Medieval Islam

Abstract

The present study considers Ibn S�n�'s (Lat. Avicenna) account of induction (istiqra') and experimentation (tajriba). For Ibn S�n� induction purportedly provided the absolute, necessary and certain first principles of a science. Ibn S�n� criticized induction, arguing that it can neither guarantee the necessity nor provide the primitiveness required of first principles. In it place, Ibn S�n� developed a theory of experimentation, which avoids the pitfalls of induction by not providing absolute, but conditional, necessary and certain first principles. The theory of experimentation that emerges though not modern, does have elements that are similar to a modern conception of scientific method.

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