Batı’nın ve Doğu’nun Zihin Tarihinde Eğitime Sanat Algısıyla Bakmak: Artes Liberales ve ‘Ulûmü’l- Meşhûr

Abstract

In order to construct knowledge and education systems, classification of sciences has been one of the most important topics in the history of civilizations. As it was the case in all historical periods since the beginning of the civilization, this topic received high attention in both the West and East’s history of mind in the Medieval. In both cultures, many studies were conducted about the disciplines to be taught in educational programs and much work had been produced which can be regarded as canonical. The extent that how one should be educated in order to gain an intellectual accumulation was investigated in both the West and East’s history of mind. With the purpose of teaching sciences, which sciences should be included in educational programs and how to classify these sciences were the main thoughts that led the West to construct artes liberales (humanities) model and the East to ‘ulûmü’lmeşhur. The works of three figures are of great importance regarding Studia humanitatis, the term that is used for the human sciences in the history of the West, and the artesliberales, which is the corresponding expression of the term in the Mediavel. These are Martianus Capella, Cossiodorus and Severinus Boethius. On the other hand, the'ulûmü'l-meşhûr' which is classified for the use in the educational curriculum in the mind history of the East in the sense of the famous sciences has been examined in detail in Farabi, İbn Sînâ, Ihvan-i Safâ Râsals and Ibn Haldun. This study focuses on how the artes liberales and the'ulûmü'l-meşhûr' which developed at the centre of skill/art focus based on a common theoretical ground were dealt with in the education programs within the light of their own cultural foundations and geography.