Arab scholar
Medieval Philosophy |
Ibn Rushd
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Name
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Ibn Rushd (also known in European literature as Averroes)
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Birth
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1126 (Cordoba, Al-Andalus)
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Death
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10 December, 1198 (Marrakech, Morocco)
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School/tradition
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Maliki, Averroism
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Main interests
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Islamic theology, Islamic
law, Mathematics, Medicine, Philosophy
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Notable ideas
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Secular thought, and reconciliation of reason with
faith, philosophy with religion, and Aristotelianism with Islam.
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Influences
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Aristotle, Plotinus, Muhammad, Avicenna, Avempace,
al-Ghazali
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Influenced
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Siger de Brabant, Boetius of Dacia,
Thomas Aquinas, Maimonides,[1] Giordano Bruno, Giovanni Pico, Cesare
Cremonini
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Ibn-Rushd (Arabic: ابن رشد), known as Averroes (1126 – December 10, 1198), was an
Andalusian-Arab philosopher, physician, and polymath: a
master of philosophy, Islamic law,
astronomy, geography, mathematics, medicine, physics, and science. He was born in Cordoba, Spain, and died in Marrakech,
Morocco. His school of philosophy is known as Averroism. He
has been described as the founding father of secular thought in Western Europe.[2]
His name is also seen as Averroès, Averroës or Averrhoës, indicating that the o and the e
form separate syllables. In Arabic (the language in which he wrote), his
name is Abu al-Walid Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Ibn Rushd أبو الوليد محمد بن احمد بن
رشد or just Ibn Rushd. In modern Tamazight (the language of the
Almohad Khalifs) it would be Muḥemmed mmis n Ḥmed mmis n Muḥemmed mmis n Ḥmed
mmis n Rucd.
Biography
Ibn Rushd came from a family of Maliki legal scholars; his grandfather Abu Al-Walid Muhammad (d. 1126) was chief judge of Cordoba under the
Almoravids. His father, Abu Al-Qasim Ahmad, held the
same position until the coming of the Almohad dynasty in 1146. It was Ibn Tufail ("Abubacer" to the West), the philosophic vizier of
Almohad Caliph Abu Yaqub Yusuf, who introduced Averroes to the court and to
Avenzoar (Ibn Zuhr), the great Muslim physician; both men became friends. In 1160 Ibn Rushd (Averroes) was made Qadi of Seville and he served in many court appointments in Seville and Cordoba, and in Morocco during his career. At
the end of the 12th century, following the Almohads conquest of Al-Andalus, his political career was ended.
Averroes' strictly rationalist views which collided with those of Islamic orthodoxy had caused Abu Yusuf Ya'qub al-Mansur to banish him though he had previously appointed him his personal physician.
Averroes was not rehabilitated until shortly before his death. He devoted the rest of his life to his philosophical writings.
Works
Commentaries on Aristotle
He wrote commentaries on most of the surviving works of Aristotle. These were not based on
primary sources (it is not known whether he knew Greek), but rather on Arabic translations. On each work, he wrote the Jami, the Talkhis and the Tafsir
which are, respectively, a simplified overview, an intermediate commentary with more critical material, and an advanced study of
Aristotelian thought in a Muslim context. The terms are taken from the names of different types
of commentary on the Qur'an.
Commentary on Plato
He did not have access to any text of Aristotle's Politics. As a
substitute for this, he commented on Plato's Republic, arguing that the state there described was the same as the original constitution of
the Arabs.
Independent philosophical works
His most important original philosophical work was The Incoherence of
the Incoherence (Tahafut al-tahafut), in which he defended Aristotelian
philosophy against al-Ghazali's claims in The Incoherence of the Philosophers (Tahafut al-falasifa). Al-Ghazali
argued that Aristotelianism, especially as presented in the writings of Avicenna, was
self-contradictory and an affront to the teachings of Islam. Averroes' rebuttal was
two-pronged: he contended both that al-Ghazali's arguments were mistaken and that, in any case, the system of Avicenna was a
distortion of genuine Aristotelianism so that al-Ghazali was aiming at the wrong target.
Other works were the Fasl al-Maqal, which argued for the legality of philosophical investigation under Islamic law, and
the Kitab al-Kashf.
Islamic law
Averroes is also a highly-regarded legal scholar of the Maliki school. Perhaps his best-known
work in this field is Bidāyat al-Mujtahid wa Nihāyat al-Muqtaṣid ( بدايات المجتهد و نهايات المقتصد), a textbook of Maliki
doctrine in a comparative framework. He is also the author of al-Bayān wa’l-Taḥṣīl, wa’l-Sharḥ wa’l-Tawjīh wa’l-Ta`līl fi
Masā’il al-Mustakhraja, a long and detailed commentary based on the Mustakhraja of Muḥammad al-`Utbī al-Qurtubī.
Medicine
In medicine, Averroes wrote a medical encyclopedia called Kulliyat
("Generalities", i.e. general medicine), known in its Latin translation as Colliget. He also made a compilation of the
works of Galen (129-200) and wrote a commentary on The
Canon of Medicine (Qanun fi 't-tibb) of Avicenna (Ibn Sina) (980-1037).
Translations
Jacob Anatoli translated several of the works of Averroes from Arabic into
Hebrew in the 1200s. Many of them were later translated
from Hebrew into Latin by Jacob Mantino and Abraham de Balmes. Other works were translated directly from Arabic into Latin by Michael Scot. Many of his works in logic and metaphysics have been permanently lost, while others, including some of the longer Aristotelian
commentaries, have only survived in Latin or Hebrew translation, not in the original Arabic. The fullest version of his works is
in Latin, and forms part of the multi-volume Juntine edition of Aristotle published in Venice 1562-1574.
Contributions
Philosophy
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According to him, there is no conflict between religion and philosophy, rather that they are different ways of reaching the same truth. He believed in the
eternity of the universe. He also held that
the soul is divided into two parts, one individual and one divine; while the individual soul is not
eternal, all humans at the basic level share one and the same divine soul. Averroes has two kinds of Knowledge of Truth. The
first being his knowledge of truth of religion being based in faith and thus could not be tested, nor did it require training to
understand. The second knowledge of truth is philosophy, which was reserved for an elite few who had the intellectual capacity to
undertake its study.
Psychology
H. Chad Hillier writes the following on Averroes' contributions to psychology:[3]
"There is evidence of some evolution in Ibn Rushd's thought on the intellect, notably in
his Middle Commentary on De Anima where he combines the positions of Alexander and Themistius for his doctrine on the material
intellect and in his Long Commentary and the Tahafut where Ibn Rushd rejected Alexander and endorsed Themistius’ position
that "material intellect is a single incorporeal eternal substance that becomes attached to the imaginative faculties of
individual humans." Thus, the human soul is a separate substance ontologically identical with the
active intellect; and when this active intellect is embodied in an individual human it
is the material intellect. The material intellect is analogous to prime matter, in that it is pure potentiality able to receive
universal forms. As such, the human mind is a composite of the material intellect and the passive intellect, which is the third
element of the intellect. The passive intellect is identified with the imagination, which, as noted above, is the sense-connected
finite and passive faculty that receives particular sensual forms. When the material intellect is actualized by information
received, it is described as the speculative (habitual) intellect. As the speculative intellect moves towards perfection, having
the active intellect as an object of thought, it becomes the acquired intellect. In that, it is aided by the active intellect,
perceived in the way Aristotle had taught, to acquire intelligible thoughts. The idea of the soul's perfection occurring through
having the active intellect as a greater object of thought is introduced elsewhere, and its application to religious doctrine is
seen. In the Tahafut, Ibn Rushd speaks of the soul as a faculty that comes to resemble the focus of its intention, and when its
attention focuses more upon eternal and universal knowledge, it become more like the eternal and universal. As such, when the
soul perfects itself, it becomes like our intellect."
"Ibn Rushd succeeded in providing an explanation of the human soul and intellect that did not involve an immediate
transcendent agent. This opposed the explanations found among the Neoplatonists, allowing a
further argument for rejecting of Neoplatonic emanation theories. Even so, notes Davidson, Ibn Rushd’s theory of the material
intellect was something foreign to Aristotle."
Astronomy
In astronomy, Averroes rejected the eccentric deferents introduced by Ptolemy. He rejected the
Ptolemaic model and instead argued for a strictly concentric model of the universe. He wrote the following criticism on the Ptolemaic model of planetary
motion:[4]
"To assert the existence of an eccentric sphere or an epicyclic sphere is contrary to nature. [...] The astronomy of our time
offers no truth, but only agrees with the calculations and not with what exists."
Averroes also argued that the Moon is opaque and
obscure, and has some parts which are thicker
than others, with the thicker parts receiving more light from the Sun
than the thinner parts of the Moon.[5] He also gave one of
the first descriptions on sunspots.[6]
Logic
Averroes was the last major Muslim logician from al-Andalus. He is known for writing the most elaborate commentaries on Aristotelian
logic.[7]
Geography
In geography, Averroes was one of the first to predict the existence of a new world beyond the Atlantic Ocean.
Physics
In Averroes' commentary on Aristotle's Physics, he commented on the theory
of motion proposed by Ibn Bajjah (Avempace) in Text
71, and also made his own contributions to physics and mechanics.
Averroes was the first to define and measure force as "the rate at which work is done in changing the kinetic condition of a material
body"[8] and the
first to correctly argue "that the effect and measure of force is change in the kinetic condition of a materially
resistant mass."[9]
Significance
Averroes is most famous for his translations and commentaries of Aristotle's works, which had been mostly forgotten in the
West, and for his early secular thought. Before
1150, only a few translated works of Aristotle existed in Latin Europe, and they were not studied
much or given much credence by monastic scholars. It was through the Latin translations of
Averroes's work beginning in the 12th century that the legacy of Aristotle became more widely known in the medieval West.
Averroes' separation of reason and religion in The Decisive Treatise provided a justification for the doctrine of
separation of religion and state, thus Averroism is considered by some writers as a precursor
to modern secularism,[10][11] and the founding father of
secular thought in Western Europe.[2] George Sarton, the father of the history of science, writes:
"Averroes was great because of the tremendous stir he made in the minds of men for centuries. A history of Averroism would include up to the end of the sixteenth-century, a period of four centuries which would perhaps
deserve as much as any other to be called the Middle Ages, for it was the real transition
between ancient and modern methods."[12]
Averroes's work on Aristotle spans almost three decades, and he wrote commentaries on almost all of Aristotle's work except
for Aristotle's Politics, to which he did not have access. Hebrew translations of his work also had a lasting impact on
Jewish philosophy. His ideas were assimilated by Siger of Brabant and Thomas Aquinas and others (especially in
the University of Paris) within the Christian
scholastic tradition which valued Aristotelian logic. Famous scholastics such as Aquinas
believed him to be so important they did not refer to him by name, simply calling him "The Commentator" and calling Aristotle
"The Philosopher." Averroes also greatly influenced philosophy in the Islamic world. His death coincides with a change in the
culture of Al-Andalus. In his work Fasl al-Maqāl (translated a. o. as The Decisive Treatise), he stresses the
importance of analytical thinking as a prerequisite to interpret the Qur'an; this is in contrast
to orthodox Muslim theology, where the emphasis is less on analytical thinking but on extensive knowledge of sources other than
the Qur'an, i.e. the hadith.
Averroes's treatise on Plato's Republic has played a major role in both
the transmission and the adaptation of the Platonic tradition in the West. It has been a primary
source in medieval political philosophy.
Cultural influences
Commentarium magnum Averrois in Aristotelis De Anima libros. French
manuscript, third quarter of the 13th century
Reflecting the respect which medieval European scholars
paid to him, Averroes is named by Dante in The
Divine Comedy with the great pagan philosophers whose spirits dwell in "the place that favor owes to fame" in
Limbo.
Averroes appears in a short story by Jorge Luis Borges, entitled "Averroes's Search", in which he is portrayed trying to find the meanings of the words
tragedy and comedy. He is briefly mentioned in the
novel Ulysses by James Joyce alongside
Maimonides. He appears to be waiting outside the walls of the ancient city of Cordoba in
Alamgir Hashmi's poem In Cordoba. He is also the main character in Destiny,
a Youssef Chahine film. The asteroid 8318 Averroes was named in his honor.
See also
References
- ^ http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=227091077594594
- ^ a b Majid Fakhry (2001). Averroes: His Life, Works and Influence. Oneworld
Publications. ISBN 1851682694.
- ^ H. Chad Hillier (2006). Ibn Rushd (Averroes) (1126 - 1198 CE), Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- ^ Owen Gingerich (April 1986). "Islamic astronomy", Scientific
American 254 (10), p. 74.
- ^ Roger Ariew (1992). "Theory of Comets at Paris During the Seventeenth
Century", Journal of the History of Ideas 53 (3), p. 355-372.
- ^ Prof. Hamed A. Ead, Averroes As A Physician, University of Cairo.
- ^ History of logic: Arabic logic, Encyclopædia
Britannica.
- ^ Ernest A. Moody (June 1951). "Galileo and Avempace: The Dynamics of the
Leaning Tower Experiment (II)", Journal of the History of Ideas 12 (3), p. 375-422 [375].
- ^ Ernest A. Moody (June 1951). "Galileo and Avempace: The Dynamics of the
Leaning Tower Experiment (II)", Journal of the History of Ideas 12 (3), p. 375-422 [380].
- ^ Abdel Wahab El Messeri. Episode 21: Ibn Rushd, Everything you
wanted to know about Islam but was afraid to Ask, Philosophia Islamica.
- ^ Fauzi M. Najjar (Spring, 1996). The debate on
Islam and secularism in Egypt, Arab Studies Quarterly (ASQ).
- ^ George Sarton, Introduction to
the History of Science
(cf. Prof. Hamed A. Ead, Averroes As A Physician)
Further reading
- Averroes, Translated by Ralph Lerner (2005).
Averroes On Plato's Republic. Cornell University
Press. ISBN 0-8014-8975-X.
- Kogan, Barry S. (1985). Averroes and the Metaphysics of Causation. SUNY
Press. ISBN 0-88706-063-3.
- Leaman, Olivier. Averroes and his
philosophy. Routledge. ISBN 0-7007-0675-5.
- Baffioni, Carmela (2004). Averroes and the Aristotelian Heritage. Guida Editori. ISBN
88-7188-862-6.
External links
pms:Averoékab:Averroès
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