The Universe and the Womb: Generation, Conception, and the Stars in Islamic Medieval Astrological and Medical Texts
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5617/jais.4746Abstract
This article looks at the assimilation of Aristotle’s account of ‘coming-to-be’ into conception theories found in Islamic medieval medical and astrological texts. It analyzes the way the four causes work on the level of the universe and that of the womb, and examines the reconciliation of ideas on planetary influence with the Galenic and Aristotelian theories of conception. The Arabic astrological theories that explain the re-ceptiveness of human beings to astral influences provide the conceptual link between the macrocosmic and microcosmic processes. Conception becomes an individualization of the coming-to-be of species, and the stars act as agents of actuality in both processes.
Key words: Conception, generation, semen, astral influences, causality, embryo
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