Voltaire Lecture: The Hidden Islamic Sources of the European Enlightenment
About this event
Elizabeth Drayson talks to Miles Young about the Islamic influences on the European Enlightenment. This academic lecture explores how Islamic scholarship and philosophy contributed to the intellectual development of Enlightenment thought.
Why you should come
AI-powered• Learn from Dr. Elizabeth Drayson how Islamic science influenced Newton’s Principia Mathematica
• Discover the Muslim philosophical origins behind the works of Voltaire and Rousseau
• Explore the cultural legacy of Islam on European identity with Cambridge expert Elizabeth Drayson
Event Highlights
- •Exploration of the Islamic foundations of the European Enlightenment
- •Analysis of how Muslim learning influenced Descartes and Isaac Newton
- •Discussion of the hybrid origins of philosophical ideas from Voltaire and Rousseau
- •Examination of the cultural impact of Islamic customs like coffee and tulips on Europe
Speakers
Elizabeth Drayson
Emerita fellow in Spanish at the University of Cambridge
Miles Young
Warden of New College and president of the festival
Programme
Voltaire Lecture: The Hidden Islamic Sources of the European Enlightenment
Dr Elizabeth Drayson talks to Miles Young about how Islamic knowledge laid the foundations for the age of reason.
Organized by: Voltaire Foundation