Ibn Rushd

Andalusian philosopher, judge and physician who served as qadi of Seville and Córdoba and as court physician in Marrakesh. Known in Latin Europe simply as 'the Commentator' for his commentaries on Aristotle, he also defended philosophy against al-Ghazali and argued that religious law obliges capable people to study it.

Key ideas

• Demonstrative truth and revealed truth cannot genuinely conflict
• Allegorical interpretation where scripture's apparent sense clashes with demonstration
• Defence of natural causation against occasionalism
• Faithful recovery of Aristotle from later Neoplatonic layers

Major works

• The Decisive Treatise (Fasl al-Maqal, c. 1178–1180)
• The Incoherence of the Incoherence (Tahafut al-Tahafut, c. 1180)
• Long Commentaries on Aristotle (incl. De Anima and Metaphysics)
• Bidayat al-Mujtahid (on jurisprudence)

In the conversation

• Debate The “double truth” doctrine was never Ibn Rushd’s view Youssef Benali · 5 replies
• Reading group Reading group: Ibn Rushd, The Decisive Treatise Layla Haddad · 4 replies
• Debate Al-Ghazali was right: causal necessity cannot be demonstrated Layla Haddad · 8 replies