A Phylogenetic Study of the Concept of Celestial Orb

This paper presents a phylogenetic study of the concept of orb from its rise to its abandonment. While a heavy load of literature is dedicated to the introduction and abandonment of the concept, there are few systematic studies on the semantic components of this concept in the Islamic tradition of a...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Sadrforati, Mohammad Mahdi, Gamini, Amir-Mohammad
Formato: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2022
País:Brasil
Recursos:Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC)
Repositorio:Principia (Florianópolis. Online)
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:periodicos.ufsc.br:article/83345
Acesso em linha:https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/principia/article/view/83345
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:Celestial orb
conceptual change
conceptual components
Islamic astronomy
hardness of orbs
Descrição
Resumo:This paper presents a phylogenetic study of the concept of orb from its rise to its abandonment. While a heavy load of literature is dedicated to the introduction and abandonment of the concept, there are few systematic studies on the semantic components of this concept in the Islamic tradition of astronomy. We will investigate conceptual articulation among Arab astronomers by distinguishing the astronomical and philosophical understandings of the concept. While the former mainly focuses on the empirical evidence, the latter emphasizes causal and physical role of the concept’s referent. Such a distinction enables us to characterize some key conceptual components of the concept of orb. Among other components articulated by the Arab astronomers, the hardness of orbs, led Tycho Brahe and his fellow astronomers to abandon the concept.