Renan attributed medieval Islamic science to Aryans, not Arabs, to preserve his racial hierarchy.

Evidence

When challenged to explain the flourishing of science in Islamic empires in the Middle Ages, Renan replied that the Arabs, like other “Semites,” were incapable of science; Arab science was a continuation of Greek science conducted not by Arabs but Persians and converted Greeks. Thus, it was the “Aryans” who were responsible for this flowering of science, he argued. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 347

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Renan explained away Muslim scientific achievement by attributing it to Persians and Greeks; Nineteenth-century racial theorist Renan attributed Islamic science to Aryans, not Arabs. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 179; A Jewish scholar’s orientalism directly opposed Renan’s Aryan-Semite hierarchy — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 397 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Nineteenth-century racial theorist Renan attributed Islamic science to Aryans, not Arabs. #corroborates (0.98) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 179
• A Jewish scholar’s orientalism directly opposed Renan’s Aryan-Semite hierarchy #responds-to (0.85) — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 397
• Renan’s racial theory held that civilisation could override race #qualifies (0.82) — James Renton, Ben Gidley (eds.), Antisemitism and Islamophobia in Europe, 643
• Renan subordinated race to language and civilization in forming identity. #qualifies (0.80)
• Renan saw assimilation into civilisation as capable of erasing racial character #qualifies (0.80) — James Renton, Ben Gidley (eds.), Antisemitism and Islamophobia in Europe, 644
• Renan’s philology of Semitic languages legitimated harsh claims about Jews and Muslims. #expands (0.80) — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 368
• Renan saw Semites and Aryans as white twins who jointly built civilisation. #complicates (0.78)
• Polygenesis ranked races hierarchically with Aryans as the supreme creators #expands (0.75) — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning, 526