ABSTRACT
Of the great Moslem students of Aristotle from whom the Western world derived profit, the most famous were Alkindi, Alfarabi, Avicenna, doctor as well as philosopher, and finally Averroes. The contribution of the Jews was no less important in assisting the emergence of the scientific spirit from within the bosom of religious mysticism and dogma. In Egypt, in Spain, in Morocco even, Jewish thought flourished, sometimes in close contact with Moslem thought, sometimes with that of Christianity or such pagan survivals as Neo-Platonism, rarely in isolation. Today it is the practice of nations to ‘export’ their cultures, because each feels, rightly or wrongly, that it has something to give to the world. In the mediaeval period, it was rather the practice to ‘import’ culture, because in Europe at any rate the centre of culture was the Catholic Church, with its great and pervasive spiritual authority.
