Averroes

Lore & Background

Averroes was born in Córdoba into a family known for public service in legal and religious fields. His education included hadith, fiqh, medicine, and theology; he studied Maliki jurisprudence under al-Hafiz Abu Muhammad ibn Rizq and hadith with Ibn Bashkuwal, a student of his grandfather. He also studied medicine under Abu Jafar Jarim al-Tajail, who likely taught him philosophy, and he knew the works of Ibn Bajjah. After the caliph discussed views of Plato, Aristotle, and Muslim philosophers on the eternity of the heavens, Averroes was impressed and began his commentaries on Aristotle at the caliph's request. Early biographers cited possible insult to the caliph; modern scholars attribute the fall to political reasons, including the caliph seeking support from orthodox ulema for war against Christian kingdoms.

Reader's Guide

Averroes's significance lies in his role as a bridge between Greek philosophy and medieval Europe. His extensive commentaries on Aristotle, translated into Latin and Hebrew, reintroduced Aristotelian thought to Western Europe after centuries of neglect following the fall of the Western Roman Empire. He defended philosophy within Islam, arguing it was permissible and even compulsory for elites, and that scripture should be interpreted allegorically when it contradicted reason. His medical work Al-Kulliyat fi al-Tibb, known in Latin as the Colliget, became a European textbook for centuries; he proposed a new theory of stroke, first described signs of Parkinson's disease, and may have been first to identify the retina as light-sensing. In the West, his ideas generated the philosophical movement Averroism, particularly his controversial unity of the intellect thesis. His legacy in the Islamic world was modest for geographical and intellectual reasons.

Did You Know?

• Averroes proposed a new theory of stroke and first described the signs and symptoms of Parkinson's disease.
• He may have been the first to identify the retina as the part of the eye responsible for sensing light.
• His unity of the intellect thesis, proposing all humans share the same intellect, became one of the most controversial Averroist doctrines in the West.