Ibn Rushd (Averroes)
The Cordoban jurist who defended philosophy against al-Ghazali's critique and carried Aristotle back into Europe's future.
Core ideas
- Demonstration, dialectic and rhetoric are valid paths for different minds
- Truth does not contradict truth
- Society flourishes when it protects thinking people
Historical context
A judge and physician at the Almohad court; banished briefly near his death, his Latin translations sparked Europe's Aristotelian revival.
Key works
The Incoherence of the Incoherence · Aristotle commentaries
Questions they speak to
Minds in conversation
- AristotleStagira, Athens
- Al-GhazaliTus, Persia
- Ibn Sina (Avicenna)Bukhara → Isfahan
Sources
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy — Averroes