The External Debate between Al-Bīrūnī and Avicenna on the Generation and Corruption of the Celestial Spheres: A Methodological Analysis of the Limits of Experience in the Aristotelian Paradigm

Document Type : Scholarly Article

Authors
Iraj Nikseresht 1
Jalal Abdollahi 2
1 Associate Professor of History and Philosophy of Science, Institute for the History of Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
2 Ph.D. Candidate in History and Philosophy of Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
10.30497/ap.2026.248979.1758
Abstract
Our aim in the following article is to examin one of the questions and responses exchanged between Abū Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī and Avicenna concerning the generation and corruption of the celestial spheres. In this exchange, al-Bīrūnī—motivated by scientific rather than philosophical or theological concerns—challenges the dominant Aristotelian view according to which the heavens and the supralunar realm are exempt from generation and corruption. This debate encompasses both philosophical and cosmological dimensions. The present study focuses specifically on its cosmological aspect, with particular attention to the methodological approaches adopted by the two thinkers. We argue that al-Bīrūnī, drawing on observations of geological changes—such as the transformation of mountains on the Earth's surface—and employing inductive reasoning, seeks to extend a claim established in the sublunary realm to the supralunar realm, thereby challenging certain elements of the Aristotelian framework. In contrast, Avicenna, relying on Aristotelian principles, resists al-Bīrūnī’s proposed generalization.
Keywords
Aristotelian paradigm
induction
generalization
corruption of the celestial spheres
supralunar realm
sublunary realm
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