Overview
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. Political misfortune late in life did not erase his Latin afterlife as ‘the Commentator.’
Main ideas
Truth does not contradict truth: demonstration and revelation agree when scripture’s apparent sense is read allegorically for those capable of proof. Assent comes rhetorically, dialectically, or demonstratively according to hearers’ natures. Denying natures and regular effects abolishes science. Philosophy is the Law’s companion and milk-sister, not its rival.
Major works
- The Decisive Treatise
- The Incoherence of the Incoherence
- Commentaries on Aristotle
Legacy
Latin Averroism shaped medieval European debates on intellect and faith. He remains a symbol of rationalist Aristotelianism in Islamic philosophy and a touchstone for reason–revelation models.
Themes in this archive
Reason (2) · Truth (1) · Understanding (1) · Knowledge (1) · Language (1)