1. Averroes on religious faith & reason ~ slide 1 Ibn Rushd on religious faith & reason zIbn Rushd (Averroes): life & times y1126-1198, known in the West as Averroes ySpanish Moslem, born in Cordova, Spain, & lived his life there. yAt the time, Cordova was one of the most civlized cities in Europe. yWas an Aristotelian through and through.

2. Averroes on religious faith & reason ~ slide 2 Ibn Rushd on religious faith & reason yDefended Aristotle agains Moslem theologians, esp. Algazel (d.c. 1111) who wrote a treatise against Aristotle entitled, The Incoherence of the Philosophers. yAverroes responded with a treatise entitled, The Incoherence of the Incoherence. yAverroes together with Avicenna (980-1037, Arabic Ibn Sina) had an immense influence on Western philosophers & theologians..

3. Averroes on religious faith & reason ~ slide 3 Ibn Rushd on religious faith & reason yBeginning in the early 1100s, the writings of the Greeks & Arabs began to be translated & available to the West. Immensely important. Opened up a whole new world to the West. yBy the 13th century, the writings of Averroes became available to Western philosophers. His influence was so great that Aquinas often refers to him simply as “The Commentator.”

4. Averroes on religious faith & reason ~ slide 4 Ibn Rushd on religious faith & reason zSelection: from On the Harmony of Religions and Philosophy, in Peterson et al, pp. 71 ff. yBegins with a prayer yIssue discussed in the essay: Is the study of philosophy allowed by the Law (Qur’an)? xAverroes: Not only is it permitted, one is obligated to study philosophy. xAverroes’ use of “philosophy” here.  Why? Because such study is the “the door... which leads to the truest knowledge of Him” (74).

5. Averroes on religious faith & reason ~ slide 5 Ibn Rushd on religious faith & reason xOne ought to come to such studies with “religious integrity and moral virtue” (74). xOne ought to use the most perfect type of reasoning in studying philosophy. Demonstrative reasoning. Meaning for Averroes? yTruths arrived at by philosophy and those found in scripture cannot clash. xWhat if the apparent meaning of scripture clashes with philosophy?

6. Averroes on religious faith & reason ~ slide 6 Ibn Rushd on religious faith & reason xThis is a clue which indicates that we ought to interpret the scripture allegorically (metaphorically). Thus not all of the passages of scripture can be taken in their “apparent meaning.” Why has scripture been revealed with both an apparent meaning and an inner meaning? –Averroes: Because of the diversity of people’s ability to understand.

7. Averroes on religious faith & reason ~ slide 7 Ibn Rushd on religious faith & reason What if the philosopher makes an error? –Averroes: An error made by a qualified judge is excused by God. zComments and criticisms yRemarkable similarity to ideas of Aquinas (may have been borrowed) and Galileo (doubtful that he knew about Averroes) yProblems with the ideal of “demonstrative knowledge”