That was very good. My only historical quibble would be:
"as a result of their re-introduction from the east where his
work had been preserved and commented on extensively by arabic
authors. "
They were also preserved by the Byzantine Greeks throughout the
entirety of the Eastern Roman Empire, even before the Muslims
began to join the very cosmopolitan byzantium.
It's a minor point but a fascinating one for me as there is a
definite continuity of Ancient Greek --> Medieval Greek -->
Modern when it comes to the ancient ideas.
I believe the British telling of the time period (which was
inherited by American scholar as well) followed this progression
in modern times:
There was Dark Ages, Middle Ages, then rescovered 'lost
knowledge'.
This was the prevalent view for a long time and we still have
traces of it in 2015.
Then, upon Western discovery of the arabic scholars writing
around the 11th century, that view was modified and the "Dark /
Middle" distinction was removed... somewhat.
But it neglects the Byzantium to arabic to Renaissance
connection entirely.
In short, the British telling keeps some of its Dark Ages mythos
by implying a "lost period", just shifting the rediscovery and
by whom.
It's a subtlety but I think it's an important one, as I rather
enjoy a continuity of ancient Greek teachings from generation to
generation among the Educated in Greek/Byzantium society
stemming from the Plato --> Modern times.
But Western knowledge of Eastern Christiandom is still at its
infancy stages.
I like the tying in of Chomsky etc as well.
Oh - wait - I just realized: You *did* point to it in compressed
form, and I missed it.
You said: "where his work had been preserved and commented on
extensively by arabic authors"
I took the implication that it was the arabic authors that did
the preserving and the commenting.
But in fact, you did not specify WHO did the preserving and I
jumped to a conclusion that might have been wrong. If so, I
apologize for my wordiness smile emoticon
