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Averroism is the term applied to either of two philosophical
Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, truth, beauty, justice, validity, mind, and language....
 trends among scholastics
Scholasticism

Scholasticism was the dominant form of theology and philosophy in the Western Europe in the Middle Ages, particularly in the 12th, 13th, and 14th centuries....
 in the late 13th century, the first of which was based on the Arab philosopher
Early Islamic philosophy

Early Islamic philosophy or classical Islamic philosophy is a period of intense philosophical development beginning in the 2nd century AH of the Islamic calendar and lasting until the 6th century AH ....
 Averroës or Ibn Rushd
Averroes

Abu 'l-Walid Mu?ammad ibn A?mad ibn Rushd , better known just as Ibn Rushd , and in European literature as Averroes , was an Al-Andalus-Arab Muslim polymath: a master of early Islamic philosophy, Islamic theology, Maliki Sharia and Fiqh, Logic in Islamic philosophy, Psychology in medieval Islam, Arabic music theory, and the Scien...
's interpretations of Aristotle
Aristotle

Aristotle was a Greeks philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. He wrote on many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, Poetics , theater, music, logic, rhetoric, politics, government, ethics, biology and zoology....
 and his reconciliation of Aristotelianism
Aristotelianism

Aristotelianism is a Tradition#Philosophical tradition of philosophy that takes its defining inspiration from the work of Aristotle. Sometimes contrasted by critics with the rationalism and Platonic idealism of Plato, Aristotelianism is understood by its proponents as critically developing Plato?s theories....
 with the Islam
Islam

Islam is a Monotheism, Abrahamic religion originating with the teachings of the Prophets of Islam Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure....
ic faith. European philosophers in turn applied these ideas to Aristotle's writings and their relation to the Christian
Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism#Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus and interpreted by Christians to have been prophesied in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament....
 faith. Besides Averroes, the main philosophers involved in the movement were Siger of Brabant
Siger of Brabant

Siger of Brabant was a 13th century philosopher from the southern Low Countries who was an important proponent of Averroism. He was considered a radical by the conservative members of the Roman Catholic Church, but it is suggested that he played as important a role as his contemporary Thomas Aquinas in the shaping of Western attitudes toward...
 and Boetius of Dacia
Boetius of Dacia

Boetius of Dacia was a 13th century Denmark Philosophy.Boetius was born in the first half of the 13th century. Not much is known of his early life, and the attempt to connect him to known persons from Denmark or Sweden has not been successful....
.

The main ideas of the earlier philosophical concept of Averroism — found in Averroës' commentaries to Aristotle — were:



This standpoint resulted in two condemnations in 1270 and 1277 by bishop
Bishop

A bishop is an ordination or consecration member of the Clergy#Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight....
 Etienne Tempier
Étienne Tempier

?tienne Tempier was a France bishop of Paris during the thirteenth century. He is best remembered for promulgating a Condemnations of 219 philosophical and theological propositions that addressed ideas and concepts that were being discussed and disputed in the faculty of Arts at the University of Paris....
 of the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church, officially known as the Catholic Church is the world's largest Christianity Ecclesia , representing over half of all Christians and one-sixth of the world population....
.






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Averroism is the term applied to either of two philosophical
Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, truth, beauty, justice, validity, mind, and language....
 trends among scholastics
Scholasticism

Scholasticism was the dominant form of theology and philosophy in the Western Europe in the Middle Ages, particularly in the 12th, 13th, and 14th centuries....
 in the late 13th century, the first of which was based on the Arab philosopher
Early Islamic philosophy

Early Islamic philosophy or classical Islamic philosophy is a period of intense philosophical development beginning in the 2nd century AH of the Islamic calendar and lasting until the 6th century AH ....
 Averroës or Ibn Rushd
Averroes

Abu 'l-Walid Mu?ammad ibn A?mad ibn Rushd , better known just as Ibn Rushd , and in European literature as Averroes , was an Al-Andalus-Arab Muslim polymath: a master of early Islamic philosophy, Islamic theology, Maliki Sharia and Fiqh, Logic in Islamic philosophy, Psychology in medieval Islam, Arabic music theory, and the Scien...
's interpretations of Aristotle
Aristotle

Aristotle was a Greeks philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. He wrote on many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, Poetics , theater, music, logic, rhetoric, politics, government, ethics, biology and zoology....
 and his reconciliation of Aristotelianism
Aristotelianism

Aristotelianism is a Tradition#Philosophical tradition of philosophy that takes its defining inspiration from the work of Aristotle. Sometimes contrasted by critics with the rationalism and Platonic idealism of Plato, Aristotelianism is understood by its proponents as critically developing Plato?s theories....
 with the Islam
Islam

Islam is a Monotheism, Abrahamic religion originating with the teachings of the Prophets of Islam Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure....
ic faith. European philosophers in turn applied these ideas to Aristotle's writings and their relation to the Christian
Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism#Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus and interpreted by Christians to have been prophesied in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament....
 faith. Besides Averroes, the main philosophers involved in the movement were Siger of Brabant
Siger of Brabant

Siger of Brabant was a 13th century philosopher from the southern Low Countries who was an important proponent of Averroism. He was considered a radical by the conservative members of the Roman Catholic Church, but it is suggested that he played as important a role as his contemporary Thomas Aquinas in the shaping of Western attitudes toward...
 and Boetius of Dacia
Boetius of Dacia

Boetius of Dacia was a 13th century Denmark Philosophy.Boetius was born in the first half of the 13th century. Not much is known of his early life, and the attempt to connect him to known persons from Denmark or Sweden has not been successful....
.

The main ideas of the earlier philosophical concept of Averroism — found in Averroës' commentaries to Aristotle — were:

  • there is one truth, but there are (at least) two ways to reach it: through philosophy
    Philosophy

    Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, truth, beauty, justice, validity, mind, and language....
     and through religion
    Religion

    A religion is an organized approach to human spirituality which usually encompasses a set of myth, symbols, beliefs and practices, often with a supernatural or transcendence quality, that give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life through reference to a higher power or truth....
    ;
  • the world
    World

    World is a common name for the planet Earth seen from a human worldview, as a place inhabited by human beings. It is often used to signify the sum of human experience and history, or the 'human condition' in general....
     is eternal;
  • the soul
    Soul

    In many religions and parts of philosophy, the soul is the immaterial part of a person. It is usually thought to consist of one's thoughts and Personality psychology, and can be synonymous with the spirit, mind or self....
     is divided into two parts: one individual, and one divine;
  • the individual soul is not eternal;
  • all humans at the basic level share one and the same divine soul (an idea known as monopsychism
    Monopsychism

    Monopsychism is the belief that all humans share one and the same eternal soul, mind or intellect. It is a recurring theme in many Mysticism....
    );
  • resurrection of the dead
    Resurrection

    Miraculous resurrection of one sort or another has been a recurrent theme or central doctrine of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and other Abrahamic religions....
     is not possible (this was put forth by Boëtius);


This standpoint resulted in two condemnations in 1270 and 1277 by bishop
Bishop

A bishop is an ordination or consecration member of the Clergy#Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight....
 Etienne Tempier
Étienne Tempier

?tienne Tempier was a France bishop of Paris during the thirteenth century. He is best remembered for promulgating a Condemnations of 219 philosophical and theological propositions that addressed ideas and concepts that were being discussed and disputed in the faculty of Arts at the University of Paris....
 of the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church, officially known as the Catholic Church is the world's largest Christianity Ecclesia , representing over half of all Christians and one-sixth of the world population....
. Tempier specified 219 different unacceptable Averroist theses. It has been pointed out that Tempier's main accusations are almost identical to those brought by Al-Ghazali
Al-Ghazali

Abu ?amid Mu?ammad ibn Mu?ammad al-Ghazali was born and died in Tus, in the Khorasan province of Persia. He was an Islamic theology, Fiqh, Islamic philosophy, Islamic astronomy, Islamic psychology and Sufism of Persian people origin, and remains one of the most celebrated scholars in the history of Sunni Islamic thought....
 against philosophers in general in his Incoherence of the Philosophers, which Averroës had tried to demonstrate to be unjustified.

To resolve the problem, Siger tried to claim that there existed a "double truth": a factual or "hard" truth that is reached through science and philosophy, and a "religious" truth that is reached through religion. This idea had not originated in Averroës; his idea was that there was one truth reached in different ways, not two truths. He did however believe that Scripture sometimes uses metaphorical language, but that those without the philosophical training to appreciate the true meaning of the passages in question were obliged to believe the literal meaning. The later philosophical concept of Averroism was the idea that the philosophical and religious worlds are separate entities. However, upon scrutinizing the 219 theses condemned by Tempier, it was obvious that not many of them originated in Averroës. Radical Aristotelianism
Aristotelianism

Aristotelianism is a Tradition#Philosophical tradition of philosophy that takes its defining inspiration from the work of Aristotle. Sometimes contrasted by critics with the rationalism and Platonic idealism of Plato, Aristotelianism is understood by its proponents as critically developing Plato?s theories....
 and heterodox Aristotelianism
Aristotelianism

Aristotelianism is a Tradition#Philosophical tradition of philosophy that takes its defining inspiration from the work of Aristotle. Sometimes contrasted by critics with the rationalism and Platonic idealism of Plato, Aristotelianism is understood by its proponents as critically developing Plato?s theories....
 were the terms commonly used for a while to refer to the actual philosophical movement started by Siger and Boëthius and differentiate it from Averroism; nowadays most scholars just call it Averroism as well.

Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas

Saint Thomas Aquinas, Dominican Order was a priest of the Roman Catholic Church in the Dominican Order from Italy, and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism, known as Doctor Angelicus and Doctor Communis....
 specifically attacked the doctrine of monopsychism
Monopsychism

Monopsychism is the belief that all humans share one and the same eternal soul, mind or intellect. It is a recurring theme in many Mysticism....
 in his book De unitate intellectus contra Averroistas. In this context, the term Averroism is used correctly.

Although condemned in 1277, many Averroistic theses survived to the 16th century and can be found in the philosophies of Giordano Bruno
Giordano Bruno

Giordano Bruno, born Filippo Bruno , was an Italy philosopher best-known as a proponent of heliocentrism and the infinity of the universe. In addition to his cosmological writings, he also wrote extensive works on the art of memory, a loosely-organized group of mnemonic techniques and principles....
, Pico della Mirandola, and Cesare Cremonini
Cesare Cremonini (philosopher)

Cesare Cremonini, sometimes Cesare Cremonino , was an Italy professor of natural philosophy, working rationalism and Aristotle materialism inside scholasticism....
.These theses talk about the superiority of philosophers to the common people and the relation between the intellect and human dignity.

Benedict Spinoza was also notably influenced by Averroism, his pantheism flowing from Averroistic monopsychism, as was Spinoza's belief in the higher state of the philosophers and tendencies toward secularism.

The ideas on the separation of philosophy and religion found in Averroism were influential in the development of modern secularism
Secularism

Secularism is the assertion that governmental practices or institutions should exist separately from religion and/or religious beliefs.In one sense, secularism may assert the right to be free from religious rule and teachings, and freedom from the government imposition of religion upon the people, within a state that is neutral on matters...
. As a result, some Muslim scholars consider Averroes the founding father of secular thought in Western Europe
Western Europe

Western Europe refers to the countries in the western most half of Europe. This concept has had different meanings, political and cultural as well as geographical issues have influenced the area....
.

See also

  • Averroes
    Averroes

    Abu 'l-Walid Mu?ammad ibn A?mad ibn Rushd , better known just as Ibn Rushd , and in European literature as Averroes , was an Al-Andalus-Arab Muslim polymath: a master of early Islamic philosophy, Islamic theology, Maliki Sharia and Fiqh, Logic in Islamic philosophy, Psychology in medieval Islam, Arabic music theory, and the Scien...
    , the founder of Averroism
    • The Incoherence of the Incoherence
      The Incoherence of the Incoherence

      The Incoherence of the Incoherence by Al-Andalus Arab polymath and philosopher Averroes is an important Early Islamic philosophy, in which the author defends the use of Aristotelianism within Islamic philosophy....
      , an important work written by Averroes
  • Ramon Llull
    Ramon Llull

    Ramon Llull was a Majorcan writer and philosopher born into a wealthy family in Palma de Mallorca, Majorca, in the Balearic Islands, then part of the Crown of Aragon, now part of Spain....
    , who also attacked Averroism
  • Mohammed Abed Al-Jabri
    Mohammed Abed al-Jabri

    Mohammed Abed Al-Jabri , is a contemporary Moroccan critic and professor of philosophy and Islamic philosophy in Mohammed V University in Rabat....
    , a pro-Averroism contemporary Moroccan philosopher


External links

  • from the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy
    Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy

    The Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy is an encyclopedia of philosophy edited by Edward Craig that was first published by Routledge in 1998 ....
  • , Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  • from the Jewish Encyclopedia
    Jewish Encyclopedia

    The Jewish Encyclopedia was an encyclopedia originally published between 1901 and 1906 by Funk and Wagnalls. It contained over 15,000 articles in 12 volumes on the history and then-current state of Judaism and the Jews as of 1901....
     (1906) - Averroism and the philosophy of Judaism.