Averroism

Averroism

Ibn Rushd (Averroes) depicted in a painting by Italian artist Andrea di Bonaiuto. Florence, 14th century.
Region	Islamic philosophy, Western philosophy, Jewish philosophy

Averroism is the term applied to either of two philosophical trends among scholastics in the late 13th century: (a) the Arab philosopher Averroës or Ibn Rushd's interpretations of Aristotle and his reconciliation of Aristotelianism with Islamic faith; and (b) the application of these ideas in the Latin Christian and Jewish intellectual traditions, such as Siger of Brabant, Boetius of Dacia, and Maimonides. The term was originally coined by Ernst Renan.

Definition

Averroes at the time of Dante Alighieri was probably the most widely condemned thinker in the medieval Christian world... Averroism became virtually synonymous with atheism in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance . As an historiographical category it was first developed by Ernest Renan in Averroès et l'averroïsme (1852). Later historians applied the name to significant uses and expressions of elements of Averroes' doctrines and to the exegetical tradition of Aristotle by Jewish and Christian thinkers as it had come down through the Latin and Hebrew traditions. "Averroist" can therefore describe a range of positions, up to and including scholars interested in the historical phenomenon of Averroes' influence^{[citation needed]}.

Key positions

The main ideas of the earlier philosophical concept of Averroism — found in Averroës' commentaries to Aristotle — were^{[citation needed]}:

• there is one truth, but there are (at least) two ways to reach it: through philosophy and through religion;
• the world is eternal;
• the soul 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 intellect (a form of monopsychism)
• resurrection of the dead;

Christianity and Averroism

These above standpoints resulted in two condemnations in 1270 and 1277 by bishop Etienne Tempier of the Roman Catholic Church. 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 against philosophers in general in his Incoherence of the Philosophers, which Averroës had tried to demonstrate to be unjustified in The Incoherence of the Incoherence.

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 differed from that of Averroës : the Cordowan thinker's idea was that there was only one truth, but reached in two 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.

Giovanni di Paolo's St. Thomas Aquinas Confounding Averroës.

The later philosophical concept of Averroism —along with the thesis proclaimed by William of Ockham—, 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 and heterodox Aristotelianism 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 specifically attacked the doctrine of monopsychism and panpsychism 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, Pico della Mirandola, and Cesare Cremonini.These theses talk about the superiority of philosophers to the common people and the relation between the intellect and human dignity.

Judaism and Averroism

Baruch Spinoza was also notably influenced by Averroism, his panentheism flowing from Averroistic monopsychism, as was Spinoza's belief in the higher state of the philosophers and tendencies toward secularism. Arguably, Spinozan Averroism went on to influence Jewish Conservatism and Reconstructionism^{[citation needed]}.

See also

• Mohammed Abed Al-Jabri, a pro-Averroism contemporary Moroccan philosopher

External links

• Averroism from the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• Jewish Averroism, Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• Averroism from the Jewish Encyclopedia (1906) - Averroism and the philosophy of Judaism.
• "The Eternal Conversation", a personal account of Averroism in the Medieval and Modern Jewish intellectual tradition.