Q0570
“The Law has obliged us to reflect upon existing things by means…” — Averroes (The Decisive Treatise, opening (Butterworth))
Verified English quotation. Primary source: The Decisive Treatise, opening (Butterworth). Theme: reason.
English
The Law has obliged us to reflect upon existing things by means of the intellect, and to seek knowledge of them from that perspective.
Source and attribution
The archive attributes this English wording to The Decisive Treatise, opening (Butterworth) and files it under Islamic Philosophy. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.
About Averroes
Ibn Rushd (Averroes, 1126–1198) served as qāḍī and physician in al-Andalus while producing the most influential Arabic commentaries on Aristotle. In the Decisive Treatise he argues that the Law itself obliges demonstrative reflection; in The Incoherence of the Incoherence he answers al-Ghazālī’s attack on the philosophers.
How to read this passage
Philosophers disagree about whether reason is the slave of the passions, the legislator of morality, or one tool among others. The quotations here keep that disagreement in play. This passage enters that discussion through reason, faith, morality.
Concepts in this quote
- Reason
- Reason is the capacity to give and assess reasons—central to logic, science, ethics, and public argument.
- Faith
- Faith appears in this archive as a live philosophical concern—not a slogan. These verified English passages show how thinkers treat faith as a problem of judgment, practice, or explanation.
- Morality
- Morality in philosophy concerns right and wrong, obligation, and the standards by which we judge persons and acts.
How to cite this quotation
APA: Averroes. (n.d.). The Law has obliged us to reflect upon existing things by means of the intellect, and to seek knowledge of them from that perspective. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0570
MLA: Averroes. “The Law has obliged us to reflect upon….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0570.
Chicago: Averroes. “The Law has obliged us to reflect upon….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0570.
Frequently asked questions
What is the source of the quotation “The Law has obliged us to reflect upon…”?
The passage is attributed to Averroes, The Decisive Treatise, opening (Butterworth). The archive attributes this English wording to The Decisive Treatise, opening (Butterworth) and files it under Islamic Philosophy. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.
What does Averroes mean by reason?
Philosophers disagree about whether reason is the slave of the passions, the legislator of morality, or one tool among others. The quotations here keep that disagreement in play. This passage enters that discussion through reason, faith, morality.