Classification of sciences in Farabi and Ibn Khaldun

Farabi and Ibn Khaldun have an important place in the history of Islamic thought. Both thinkers classified the sciences from different perspectives, influenced by the social, cultural and philosophical conditions of their respective periods. Al-Farabi grouped the sciences into five categories on the basis of method and functionality: logic, language, mathematics, nature and theology, and civil sciences. Ibn Khaldun, on the other hand, analyzed all sciences under two main headings: rational and traditional sciences. While al-Farabi approached the relationship between the sciences in a horizontal order, Ibn Khaldun created a hierarchy by organizing the sciences according to their importance. In addition, it is seen that the thinkers differed epistemologically and that their classification of the production and application of knowledge was an important distinguishing factor. Farabi's views added his own unique interpretations to Aristotle's central role of logic in science and defined politics as a separate discipline. Ibn Khaldun criticized al-Farabi's classification and the result was a classification in which the fields of fiqh, theology and politics were clearly separated. This created a remarkable difference between thinkers. The impact of these classifications on today's understanding of science points to the conceptual value of the current debate. However, the fact that Farabi did not provide enough information on theology and Ibn Khaldun did not provide enough information on fiqh in his works is a limitation in enriching the conten Keywords: Farabi, IbnKhaldun, science, classification of sciences