Forgetting the Arabic: Europe on the Cusp of the Renaissance

Why was Islamic philosophy, once the epitome of Arab learning, eventually rejected by Muslims? And why, after assimilating it, did Europeans distance themselves from its formulators?

This program seeks to understand the religious climate of the late Middle Ages, in which universities and madrassas became centers of power and models for evolving sociopolitical systems.

The potentially heretical nature of philosophy is also analyzed – in Islamic lands the djinni of intellectuality was put back in the bottle, but in Christendom it escaped the control of those who used it, paving the way for Renaissance humanism.

Part twelve of When the World Spoke Arabic, produced by Fit Production / La Cinquieme, 1999.
In English. Portions in French with English subtitles. Running time: 27 minutes.