The Philosophy Book

83

Some Muslims did not view philosophy

as a legitimate subject for study in the

12th century, but Averroes argued that

it was essential to engage with religion

critically and philosophically.

See also: Plato 50–55 ■ Aristotle 56–63 ■ Al-Ghazâlî 332 ■ Ibn Bâjja 333 ■ Thomas Aquinas 88–95 ■
Moses of Narbonne 334

THE MEDIEVAL WORLD

that is to say the obvious meaning
of the words should be disregarded
and the scientific theory
demonstrated by Aristotelian
philosophy accepted in its place.

The immortal intellect
Averroes is willing to sacrifice some
widely-held Islamic doctrines in
order to maintain the compatibility
of philosophy and religion. For
instance, almost all Muslims believe
that the universe has a beginning,
but Averroes agrees with Aristotle
that it has always existed, and says
that there is nothing in the Qur’an

to contradict this view. However, the

resurrection of the dead, a basic

tenet of Islam, is harder to include

within an Aristotelian universe.

Averroes accepts that we must

believe in personal immortality,

and that anyone who denies this is

a heretic who should be executed.

But he takes a different position

from his predecessors by saying that

Aristotle’s treatise On the Soul does

not state that individual humans

have immortal souls. According to

Averroes’ interpretation, Aristotle

claims that humanity is immortal

only through a shared intellect.

Averroes seems to be saying that

there are truths discoverable by

humans that hold good for ever, but

that you and I as individuals will

perish when our bodies die.

Later Averroists

Averroes’ advocacy of Aristotelian

philosophy (if only for the elite) was

shunned by his fellow Muslims. But

his works, translated into Hebrew

and Latin, had enormous influence

in the 13th and 14th centuries.

Scholars who supported the opinions

Averroes Ibn Rushd, known in Europe as

Averroes, was born in 1126 in

Cordoba, then part of Islamic

Spain. He belonged to a family of

distinguished lawyers and trained

in law, science, and philosophy.

His friendship with another doctor

and philosopher, Ibn Tufayl, led

to an introduction to the Caliph

Abû Yacqûb Yûsuf, who appointed

Averroes chief judge and later

court physician. Abû Yacqûb

also shared Averroes’ interest in

Aristotle, and commissioned him

to write a series of paraphrases of

all Aristotle’s works, designed for

non-specialists such as himself.

Despite the increasingly liberal

views of the Almohads, the

public disapproved of Averroes’

unorthodox philosophy, and

public pressure led to a banning

of his books and personal exile in

1195. Reprieved two years later,
      Averroes returned to Cordoba
      but died the following year.

Key works

1179 – 80 Decisive Treatise

1179 – 80 The Incoherence of the

Incoherence

c.1186 Great Commentary on

Aristotle’s ‘On the Soul’

Philosophers believe

that religious laws are

necessary political arts.

Averroes

of Aristotle and Averroes became

known as Averroists, and they

included Jewish scholars such

as Moses of Narbonne, and Latin

scholars such as Anicius Boethius

and Siger of Brabant. The Latin

Averroists acccepted Aristotle as

interpreted by Averroes as the truth

according to reason—despite also

affirming an apparently conflicting

set of Christian “truths.” They have

been described as advocating a

“double truth” theory, but their view

is rather that truth is relative to the

context of enquiry. ■