Abstract:

The French historian, philosopher and researcher Ernest Renan (1823-1892) lost his faith when he was prepared to become a religious man, engaged in natural sciences methods. The "Islam and Science" conference at the University of Sorbonne in March 1883 led to numerous discussions in the East and West, and the rejection of Renan's thesis was written trying to disrupt. In this conference, Renan elaborated the thesis that the Islamic religion in general impede the development of science and philosophy. The first reaction to this conference came from Sheikh Cemaleddin Efgânî. Except for Efgâni, many names like Namık Kemal and Ataullah Bayezidof tried to respond to him with the rejection they wrote by trying to ruin Renan's claim. In this study, in the framework of Renan's opinions, we discussed the rejections written by the protesters in response to the Islamic and Scientific Conference.

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Abstract:

Ernest Renan (1823-1892), French philosopher, historian and researcher, was trained to become an ecclesiastic and lost his faith when he was engaged in natural science methods. His lecture given at the Sorbonne University on March 29, 1883 entitled “Islam and Science” caused sparking many controversies in the East and the West and refutations were written criticising Renan’s essay. In that lecture, Renan puts forward his argument in general that the religion of Islam prevented the progress of science and philosophy. Sheikh Cemaleddin Efganî was the first to pen a refutation of Renan’s essay. Apart from Efgani, many names such as Namık Kemal, Ali Ferruh, Emir Ali, Reşid Rıza, Celal Nuri and Ataullah Bayezidof tried to defend Renan's arguments by writing refutations. In my article, I will discuss about the refutations written by scholars in response to the Islam and Science lecture within the framework of Renan’s arguments