Averroès -- ibn Rushd de Cordoue

Abu'l-Walid Muhammad ibn Rushd de Cordoue (né en 1126 - année supposée de sa naissance - à Cordoue en Andalousie, actuelle Espagne - mort le 10 décembre 1198, à Marrakech, actuel Maroc), latinisé en Averroès, de son nom complet Abū l-Walīd Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Ahmad ibn Rušd أبو الوليد محمد بن احمد بن محمد بن احمد بن احمد بن رشد , est à la fois un philosophe, un théologien islamique, un juriste, un mathématicien et un médecin arabe du XIIe siècle. Certains vont jusqu'à le décrire comme le père fondateur de la pensée laïque
en Europe de l'Ouest[1].

Son ouverture d'esprit et sa modernité déplaisent aux autorités musulmanes de l'époque qui l'exilent comme hérétique et ordonnent que ses livres soient brûlés. Il demeura profondément méconnu jusqu'au XIIIe siècle qui commence deux ans après sa mort, où son importance fut cependant minimisée. Ce n'est qu'actuellement que les historiens de la philosophie reconnaissent son importance. Il commenta en entier les œuvres d'Aristote : aussi le nommait-on le Commentateur.

Dans sa philosophie, Averroès allia aux doctrines d'Aristote celles de l'École d'Alexandrie sur l'émanation, et enseigna qu'il existe une intelligence universelle à laquelle tous les hommes participent, que cette intelligence est immortelle, mais que les âmes particulières sont périssables.

Averroès
détail de la toile du XIVe siècle, Triunfo de Santo Tomás, de Andrea de Bonaiuto

Sommaire


* 1 Biographie
* 2 Portée de l'œuvre d'Averroès
* 3 Philosophie
* 4 Théologie
* 5 Postérité
* 6 Publications
o 6.1 Publications anciennes
* 7 Annexes
o 7.1 Articles connexes
o 7.2 Bibliographie
+ 7.2.1 Bibliographie ancienne
+ 7.2.2 Bibliographie contemporaine
+ 7.2.3 Biographie romancée
+ 7.2.4 Source partielle
o 7.3 Notes et références

Biographie

Né à Cordoue, il est issu d'une grande famille de cadis (juges) de Cordoue (malékites).

Il est formé par des maîtres particuliers. La formation initiale commence par l’étude, par cœur, du Coran, à laquelle s'ajoutent la grammaire, la poésie, des rudiments de calcul et l’apprentissage de l’écriture. Averroès étudie avec son père, le hadith, la Tradition relative aux actes, paroles et attitudes du Prophète et le fiqh, droit au sens musulman, selon lequel le religieux et le juridique ne se dissocient pas.

Les sciences et la philosophie ne sont étudiées qu’après une bonne formation religieuse. Averroès élargit l’activité intellectuelle de son milieu familial en s’intéressant aux sciences profanes : physique, astronomie, médecine. Á l’issue de sa formation, c’est un homme de religion féru de savoirs antiques et curieux de connaître la nature.

Averroès cultiva la médecine, qu'il avait étudiée sous Avenzoar, et fut médecin de la cour de Maroc; mais il s'attacha plutôt à la théorie qu'à la pratique.

L’émir Abu Yaqub Yusuf lui ayant demandé, en 1166, de présenter pédagogiquement l’œuvre d’Aristote, Averroès cherche à retrouver l’œuvre authentique. Il utilise plusieurs traductions. En appliquant les principes de la pensée logique dont la non-contradiction, et en utilisant sa connaissance globale de l’œuvre, il retrouve des erreurs de traduction, des lacunes et des rajouts. Il découvre ainsi la critique interne. Il a écrit trois types de commentaires : les Grands, les Moyens et les Abrégés. Il apparaît comme l’aristotélicien le plus fidèle des commentateurs médiévaux.

Vers 1188-1189, on assiste à des rebellions dans le Maghreb central et une guerre sainte contre les chrétiens. Le sultan Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur fait alors interdire la philosophie, les études et les livres, comme dans le domaine des moeurs, il interdit la vente du vin et le métier de chanteur et de musicien.

A partir de 1195, Averroès, déjà suspect comme philosophe, est victime d’une campagne d’opinion qui vise à saper son prestige de cadi. Al-Mansûr sacrifie alors ses intellectuels à la pression des oulémas. Averroès est exilé en 1197 à Lucena, petite ville andalouse peuplée surtout de Juifs, en déclin depuis que les Almohades ont interdit toute religion autre que l’Islam. Après un court exil d’un an et demi, il est rappelé au Maroc où il reçoit le pardon du sultan, mais n’est pas rétabli dans ses fonctions. Il meurt à Marrakech le 10 ou 11 décembre 1198 sans avoir revu l’Andalousie. La mort d’Al-Mansûr peu de temps après marque le début de la décadence de l’empire almohade.

Suspecté d’hérésie, il n’aura pas de postérité en terre d’Islam. L’œuvre d’Averroès sera sauvée par les traducteurs juifs. Elle passera par les Juifs de Catalogne et d’Occitanie dans la scolastique latine.

C'est l'un des plus grand penseurs de l'Espagne musulmane. Médecin, mathématicien, il s'intéresse surtout à la théologie et à la philosophie. Il commente les œuvres d'Aristote et cherche à séparer clairement la foi et la science. Ce projet inquiète les musulmans traditionalistes, mais exerce ensuite une influence considérable sur les théologiens catholiques de l'Occident.

Portée de l'œuvre d'Averroès

Par l'intermédiaire d'ibn Rushd, c'est tout le mouvement du transfert des études, de la longue et lente appropriation de la philosophie gréco-arabe par l'Europe qui s'est accompli — une histoire multiséculaire, celle de la transmission et du renouvellement de la philosophie et de la science des maîtres grecs, commencée au IXe siècle dans la Bagdad des califes abbassides, poursuivie au XIIe siècle dans la Cordoue des Almohades, puis continuée dans les pays de la Chrétienté, dans et hors des universités des XIIIe, XIVe et XVe siècles, sans nier toutefois le rôle de Byzance dans la transmission de l'héritage grec.

George Sarton, le père de l'histoire des sciences, écrit :

« Averroès doit sa grandeur à l'énorme remue-ménage qu'il a provoqué dans l'esprit des hommes pendant des siècles. L'histoire de l'averroïsme s'étale sur une période de quatre siècles jusqu'à la fin du XVIe siècle, cette période mérite peut-être plus que toute autre d'être appelée le Moyen Âge, car elle est la véritable transition entre les méthodes anciennes et modernes[2]. »

Certains affirment qu'Aristote ne fut connu en Europe que par des traductions latines faites sur la traduction arabe d'Averroès — ce qui ne l'empêche pas d'être représenté en statue sur le portail de la cathédrale de Chartres au XIIe siècle ; les commentaires d'Averroès jouissaient d'une autorité presque égale à celle du maître. Sa doctrine, combattue par Saint Thomas, fut condamnée en 1240 par l'Université de Paris, et en 1512 par le cinquième Concile du Latran. Averroès ne s'accordait pas toujours dans ses commentaires avec Alexandre d'Aphrodisie, ce qui divisa toute l'école en deux sectes, celle des Averroïstes et celle des Alexandristes.

Philosophie

L'extraordinaire et vaste culture d'Averroès va lui permettre de donner un statut et un rôle très précis à la philosophie, au côté de la religion. Son point de vue extrêmement élaboré et profondément aristotélicien va constituer un chef-d'œuvre de cohérence.

Philosophe, médecin, astronome, il est aussi cadi, c'est-à-dire homme de loi, juge. Et c'est sur le terrain juridique que le cadi de Séville va porter la première offensive contre les détracteurs de la philosophie. Le chef de file de ces derniers ayant vécu un siècle plus tôt et à l'autre extrémité du monde musulman, c'est à Al-Ghazali qu'ibn Rushd va pourtant répondre. L'ouvrage d'al-Ghazali, le Tahafut al-falasifa (incohérence des philosophes) est comme une référence pour le mysticisme musulman et est précisément celle des ash'arites qui sévissent en Andalousie à l'époque d'ibn Rushd.

Avec le Kitab fasl al-maqal (livre du discours décisif), il répond d'une manière totalement nouvelle à un très ancien problème que l'on retrouve dans le sous-titre de l'ouvrage : celui de la « connexion entre la Révélation et la philosophie ». Expérience inédite, la réponse est placée sur le terrain juridique, celui de la science de la Loi musulmane : Ibn Rushd ancre la philosophie dans la réalité sociale. Il s'agit de fonder en droit l'existence du philosophe dans la cité musulmane, ce qui aboutit à cet évènement singulier dans l'histoire : la philosophie se trouve ainsi légitimée aussi bien aux yeux du droit de la société, qu'à ceux de la loi religieuse.

Ainsi, ibn Rushd constate que le Coran s'adresse à tous les musulmans : aussi bien de faible que de haute culture. Le caractère universel de la Révélation ne saurait précisément être universel s'il ne s'adressait pas à eux selon leur niveau de culture. Il y a le sens premier, simple et imagé pour le commun des mortels et un discours plus soutenu ; il arrive qu'une contradiction apparaisse entre ces deux types d'énoncés et c'est précisément là que doit intervenir la philosophie : le philosophe, par le raisonnement, doit déceler le sens profond, caché du Texte.

Ibn Rushd va pouvoir donner à la philosophie, dans une fatwa, son caractère « obligatoire », comme le veut la Loi musulmane. Ne pas éclairer le Texte par une réflexion philosophique serait nuire à la Foi du Fidèle.

Dans le Tahafut al-Tahafut (incohérence de l'incohérence), l'ouvrage d'al-Ghazali est critiqué point par point, les propos sont sanctionnés par une fatwa qui les caractérise comme « blâmables », et la philosophie d'Aristote restaurée dans sa plus pure version. Averroès à toujours mis en avant le fait de comparer le monde où il vivait et la religion qu'il devait respecter pour être en accord avec l'importance de l'islam durant son époque.

Ibn Rushd est peut-être le philosophe qui a le mieux saisi cette philosophie, et il est d'ailleurs connu, à son époque et pour la postérité, comme le Grand Commentateur (i.e. des textes aristotéliciens).

Théologie

Son livre Bidâyat ul-mudjtahid wa nihâyat ul-Muqtasid fait référence en matière de jurisprudence comparée. Il y cite et discute les avis des différents madhhabs (écoles) en matière de fiqh (jurisprudence islamique).

Postérité

tableau : Détail de L'École d'Athènes de Raphaël

Ses commentaires de l'œuvre d'Aristote ont été traduits en latin vers 1230 et en hébreu et eurent une influence majeure sur les penseurs du Moyen Âge tant dans l'Andalousie maure que dans toute l'Europe. Réussissant à concilier la philosophie aristotélicienne et la foi musulmane, il a réussi à devenir un grand penseur du monde islamique, et contribué à la diffusion des cultures grecque et arabe dans le monde occidental.

Le premier lycée privé musulman de France métropolitaine, ouvert à Lille en septembre 2003 le réhabilite en portant son nom, devenu symbole d'ouverture d'esprit à l'humanité entière, sans barrières culturelles ni préjugés communautaires.

Le cinéaste Youssef Chahine met en scène Averroès dans son film Le Destin en 1997.

En tant que figure philosophique, il a inspiré à Jorge Luis Borges, une de ses nouvelles La Quête d'Averroes du recueil El Aleph.

Créées en 1994, les Rencontres d’Averroès se proposent de penser la Méditerranée des deux rives en invitant à Marseille des personnalités autour de tables rondes.

Publications

Publications anciennes

On a d'Averroès (voir sur gallica) :

* des Commentaires sur Aristote, publiés en latin, Venise, 1595, in-folio ;
* un recueil d'écrits sur la médecine, connu sous le titre de Collyget, corruption du mot arabe signifiant le livre de tous, Venise, 1482 ;
* des Commentaires sur les canons d'Avicenne, Venise, 1484 ;
* l' Incohérence de l'incohérence des philosophes d'al-Ghazali, etc.

Annexes

Articles connexes

* Averroïsme
* Aristote
* Métaphysique (Aristote)
* La Noétique
* Avicenne
* Thomas d'Aquin
* Histoire de la métaphysique
* Métaphysique
* Scolastique
* Philosophie médiévale

Bibliographie

Bibliographie ancienne

* Ernest Renan, Averroès et l'Averroïsme, 1852 et 1860.

Bibliographie contemporaine

Commentaire sur De Anima,manuscrit français, troisième quart du XIIIe siècle
Commentaire sur De Anima,
manuscrit français, troisième quart du XIIIe siècle

* Averroès, L’intelligence et la pensée. Grand commentaire du De Anima, livre III (429 a 10 – 435 b 25), traduction, introduction et notes par Alain de Libera, Paris, Flammarion, GF 974, 1998.
* Averroès et l'averroïsme, XIIe-XVe siècle : un itinéraire historique du Haut Atlas à Paris et à Padoue : actes du colloque international organisé à Lyon, les 4 et 5 octobre 1999 dans le cadre du "Temps du Maroc", par l'Unité mixte de recherche 5648, CNRS, Université Lumière Lyon 2, EHESS ; avec la collaboration des associations Regard Sud et les Amis de la maison de l'Orient ainsi que de l'Institut universitaire de formation des maîtres du Rhône ; actes réunis et édités par André Bazzana, Nicole Bériou et Pierre Guichard. - Lyon : Presses universitaires de Lyon, coll. « Histoire et archéologie médiévales » n° 16, 2005. 348 pp., 24 cm. ISBN 2-7297-0769-7.
* Jean-Baptiste Brenet, Transferts du sujet - la noétique d'Averroès selon Jean de Jandun , Paris, Libr. Philos. Vrin, 2003, ISBN-ISSN-ISMN 2-7116-1653-3
* Emanuele Coccia, La trasparenza delle immagini. Averroè e l'averroismo. Bruno Mondadori, Mailand 2005, ISBN 884249272
* Antonio Petagine, Aristotelismo difficile: l’intelletto umano nella prospettiva di Alberto Magno, Tommaso d'Aquino e Sigieri di Brabante. Vita e Pensiero, Mailand 2004, ISBN 88-343-5023-5
* Colette Sirat, Marc Geoffroy, L' original arabe du grand commentaire d'Averroès au "De anima" d'Aristote, Paris, Vrin, 2005
* Paul Mazliak, Avicenne & Averroès : Médecine et biologie dans la civilisation de l'Islam, Vuibert/Adapt, 2004, (ISBN 2711753263)

Biographie romancée

* Le destin, film de Youssef Chahine, met en scène la vie d'Averroès.
* Jacques Attali, La Confrérie des Eveillés, ISBN 2-213-61901-8. Dans ce roman, Jaques Attali dresse une biographie romancée, partielle et croisée de Averroès et Maïmonide uni par Aristote et son héritage.

Source partielle

« Averroès », dans Marie-Nicolas Bouillet et Alexis Chassang (dir.), Dictionnaire universel d'histoire et de géographie, 1878 [détail des éditions] (Wikisource)

Notes et références

1. ↑ Majid Fakhry (2001). Averroes: His Life, Works and Influence. Oneworld Publications. (ISBN 1851682694)
2. ↑ George Sarton, Introduction to the History of Science
(cf. Prof. Hamed A. Ead, Averroes As A Physician)

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イブン＝ルシュド（Ibn Rushd）、全名アブー＝アル＝ワーリド・ムハンマド・イブン＝アフマド・イブン＝ルシュド（Abu Al-Walid Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Ibn Rushd、ラテン名：アウェロエス Averroes、1126年 - 1198年）は、スペインのコルドバ生まれの哲学者。

アラブ－イスラム世界のアリストテレスの注釈者として有名。また、医学百科事典を著した。 彼の著作は、中世ヨーロッパのキリスト教のスコラ学者によって、ラテン語に翻訳され、ラテン・アヴェロエス派を形成した。

関連

* ラテン・アヴェロエス派
* イブン＝スィーナー
* 全能の逆説

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Averroes

Arab scholar
Medieval Philosophy
Ibn Rushd

-----
Name
Ibn Rushd (also known in European literature as Averroes)
Birth 1126 (Cordoba, Al-Andalus)
Death 10 December 1198 (Marrakech, Morocco)
School/tradition Sunni Islam (Maliki), Averroism
Main interests Islamic theology, Islamic law, Mathematics, Medicine, Philosophy
Notable ideas Secular thought, and reconciliation of reason with faith, philosophy with religion, and Aristotelianism with Islam.
Influenced by Aristotle, Plotinus, Muhammad, Avicenna, Avempace, al-Ghazali
Influenced Siger de Brabant, René Descartes,Boetius of Dacia, Thomas Aquinas, Maimonides,[1] Giordano Bruno, Giovanni Pico, Cesare Cremonini
------

Ibn-Rushd (Arabic: ابن رشد), known as Averroes (1126 – December 10, 1198), was an Andalusian-Arab philosopher, physician, and polymath: a master of philosophy, theology, Maliki law and jurisprudence, astronomy, geography, mathematics, medicine, physics, psychology and science. He was born in Córdoba, modern day Spain, and died in Marrakech, modern day Morocco. His school of philosophy is known as Averroism. He has been described as the founding father of secular thought in Western Europe.[2]

His name is also seen as Averroës, Averroès or Averrhoës, indicating that the o and the e form separate syllables. In Arabic (the language in which he wrote), his name is Abdul Walid Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Ibn Rushd أبو الوليد محمد بن احمد بن رشد or just Ibn Rushd.

Contents

* 1 Biography
* 2 Works
* 3 Contributions
o 3.1 Philosophy
o 3.2 Psychology
o 3.3 Astronomy
o 3.4 Logic
o 3.5 Medicine
o 3.6 Physics
* 4 Significance
* 5 Cultural influences
* 6 List of Works
o 6.1 Logic
+ 6.1.1 Short Commentary
+ 6.1.2 Middle Commentaries
+ 6.1.3 Long Commentaries
+ 6.1.4 Questions
# 6.1.4.1 Questions on the Isagoge
# 6.1.4.2 Questions on the Categories
# 6.1.4.3 Questions on Peri hermeneias
# 6.1.4.4 Questions on the Prior Analytics
# 6.1.4.5 Questions on the Posterior Analytics
o 6.2 Philosophy of Nature
+ 6.2.1 Physics
+ 6.2.2 On the Heaven
+ 6.2.3 On Generation and Corruption
+ 6.2.4 Meteorology
+ 6.2.5 Biology
+ 6.2.6 Questions
o 6.3 Psychology
+ 6.3.1 Commentaries
+ 6.3.2 Treatises on the Intellect
+ 6.3.3 ʿAbd Allāh Ibn Rušd (Son of Averroes)
+ 6.3.4 Anonymous
o 6.4 Metaphysics
+ 6.4.1 Commentaries
o 6.5 Practical Philosophy
o 6.6 Mathematics
* 7 See also
* 8 Endnotes
* 9 Further reading
o 9.1 External links

Biography

Ibn Rushd came from a family of Maliki legal scholars; his grandfather Abu Al-Walid Muhammad (d. 1126) was chief judge of Cordoba under the Almoravid dynasty. His father, Abu Al-Qasim Ahmad, held the same position until the coming of the Almohad dynasty in 1146. It was Ibn Tufail ("Abubacer" to the West), the philosophic vizier of Almohad Caliph Abu Yaqub Yusuf, who introduced Averroes (Ibn Rushd) to the court and to Ibn Zuhr ("Avenzoar" in the West), the great Muslim physician; both men became friends. Averroes later reported how it was Ibn Tufail that inspired him to write his famous Aristotelian commentaries:

Abu Bakr ibn Tufayl summoned me one day and told me that he had heard the Commander of the Faithful complaining about the disjointedness of Aristotle's mode of expression — or that of the translators — and the resultant obscurity of his intentions. He said that if someone took on these books who could summarize them and clarify their aims after first thoroughly understanding them himself, people would have an easier time comprehending them. “If you have the energy,” Ibn Tufayl told me, “you do it. I'm confident you can, because I know what a good mind and devoted character you have, and how dedicated you are to the art. You understand that only my great age, the cares of my office — and my commitment to another task that I think even more vital — keep me from doing it myself.”[3]

In 1160 Ibn Rushd (Averroes) was made Qadi of Seville and he served in many court appointments in Seville and Cordoba, and in Morocco during his career. At the end of the 12th century, following the Almohads conquest of Al-Andalus, his political career was ended. Averroes' strictly rationalist views which collided with the more orthodox Islamic views of Abu Yusuf Ya'qub al-Mansur led to him banishing Averroes though he had previously appointed him as his personal physician. Averroes was not rehabilitated until shortly before his death. He devoted the rest of his life to his philosophical writings.

Works

He wrote commentaries on most of the surviving works of Aristotle. These were not based on primary sources (it is not known whether he knew Greek), but rather on Arabic translations. On each work, he wrote the Jami, the Talkhis and the Tafsir which are, respectively, a simplified overview, an intermediate commentary with more critical material, and an advanced study of Aristotelian thought in a Muslim context. The terms are taken from the names of different types of commentary on the Qur'an. He did not have access to any text of Aristotle's Politics. As a substitute for this, he commented on Plato's Republic, arguing that the state there described was the same as the original constitution of the Arabs and was rediscovered in the Almohad state of Ibn Tumart.
Imaginary debate between nar and Porphyry. Monfredo de Monte Imperiali Liber de herbis, 14th century.
Imaginary debate between nar and Porphyry. Monfredo de Monte Imperiali Liber de herbis, 14th century.[4]

His most important original philosophical work was The Incoherence of the Incoherence (Tahafut al-tahafut), in which he defended Aristotelian philosophy against al-Ghazali's claims in The Incoherence of the Philosophers (Tahafut al-falasifa). Al-Ghazali argued that Aristotelianism, especially as presented in the writings of Avicenna, was self-contradictory and an affront to the teachings of Islam. Averroes' rebuttal was two-pronged: he contended both that al-Ghazali's arguments were mistaken and that, in any case, the system of Avicenna was a distortion of genuine Aristotelianism so that al-Ghazali was aiming at the wrong target. Other works were the Fasl al-Maqal, which argued for the legality of philosophical investigation under Islamic law, and the Kitab al-Kashf, which argued against the proofs of Islam advanced by the Ash'arite school and discussed what proofs, on the popular level, should be used instead.

Averroes is also a highly-regarded legal scholar of the Maliki school. Perhaps his best-known work in this field is Bidāyat al-Mujtahid wa Nihāyat al-Muqtaṣid ( بدايات المجتهد و نهايات المقتصد), a textbook of Maliki doctrine in a comparative framework. He is also the author of al-Bayān wa’l-Taḥṣīl, wa’l-Sharḥ wa’l-Tawjīh wa’l-Ta`līl fi Masā’il al-Mustakhraja, a long and detailed commentary based on the Mustakhraja of Muḥammad al-`Utbī al-Qurtubī.

In medicine, Averroes wrote a medical encyclopedia called Kulliyat ("Generalities", i.e. general medicine), known in its Latin translation as Colliget. He also made a compilation of the works of Galen (129-200) and wrote a commentary on The Canon of Medicine (Qanun fi 't-tibb) of Avicenna (Ibn Sina) (980-1037).

Jacob Anatoli translated several of the works of Averroes from Arabic into Hebrew in the 1200s. Many of them were later translated from Hebrew into Latin by Jacob Mantino and Abraham de Balmes. Other works were translated directly from Arabic into Latin by Michael Scot. Many of his works in logic and metaphysics have been permanently lost, while others, including some of the longer Aristotelian commentaries, have only survived in Latin or Hebrew translation, not in the original Arabic. The fullest version of his works is in Latin, and forms part of the multi-volume Juntine edition of Aristotle published in Venice 1562-1574.

Contributions

Philosophy

According to him, there is no conflict between religion and philosophy, rather that they are different ways of reaching the same truth. He believed in the eternity of the universe. He also held that the soul is divided into two parts, one individual and one divine; while the individual soul is not eternal, all humans at the basic level share one and the same divine soul. Averroes has two kinds of Knowledge of Truth. The first being his knowledge of truth of religion being based in faith and thus could not be tested, nor did it require training to understand. The second knowledge of truth is philosophy, which was reserved for an elite few who had the intellectual capacity to undertake this study.

The concept of "existence precedes essence", a key foundational concept of existentialism, can also be found in the works of Averroes, as a reaction to Avicenna's concept of "essence precedes existence".[5]

Psychology

H. Chad Hillier writes the following on Averroes' contributions to psychology:[6]

"There is evidence of some evolution in Ibn Rushd's thought on the intellect, notably in his Middle Commentary on De Anima where he combines the positions of Alexander and Themistius for his doctrine on the material intellect and in his Long Commentary and the Tahafut where Ibn Rushd rejected Alexander and endorsed Themistius’ position that "material intellect is a single incorporeal eternal substance that becomes attached to the imaginative faculties of individual humans." Thus, the human soul is a separate substance ontologically identical with the active intellect; and when this active intellect is embodied in an individual human it is the material intellect. The material intellect is analogous to prime matter, in that it is pure potentiality able to receive universal forms. As such, the human mind is a composite of the material intellect and the passive intellect, which is the third element of the intellect. The passive intellect is identified with the imagination, which, as noted above, is the sense-connected finite and passive faculty that receives particular sensual forms. When the material intellect is actualized by information received, it is described as the speculative (habitual) intellect. As the speculative intellect moves towards perfection, having the active intellect as an object of thought, it becomes the acquired intellect. In that, it is aided by the active intellect, perceived in the way Aristotle had taught, to acquire intelligible thoughts. The idea of the soul's perfection occurring through having the active intellect as a greater object of thought is introduced elsewhere, and its application to religious doctrine is seen. In the Tahafut, Ibn Rushd speaks of the soul as a faculty that comes to resemble the focus of its intention, and when its attention focuses more upon eternal and universal knowledge, it become more like the eternal and universal. As such, when the soul perfects itself, it becomes like our intellect."

"Ibn Rushd succeeded in providing an explanation of the human soul and intellect that did not involve an immediate transcendent agent. This opposed the explanations found among the Neoplatonists, allowing a further argument for rejecting of Neoplatonic emanation theories. Even so, notes Davidson, Ibn Rushd’s theory of the material intellect was something foreign to Aristotle."

Astronomy

In astronomy, Averroes rejected the eccentric deferents introduced by Ptolemy. He rejected the Ptolemaic model and instead argued for a strictly concentric model of the universe. He wrote the following criticism on the Ptolemaic model of planetary motion:[7]

"To assert the existence of an eccentric sphere or an epicyclic sphere is contrary to nature. [...] The astronomy of our time offers no truth, but only agrees with the calculations and not with what exists."

Averroes also argued that the Moon is opaque and obscure, and has some parts which are thicker than others, with the thicker parts receiving more light from the Sun than the thinner parts of the Moon.[8] He also gave one of the first descriptions on sunspots.[9]

Logic

Averroes was the last major Muslim logician from al-Andalus. He is known for writing the most elaborate commentaries on Aristotelian logic.[10]

Medicine

In medicine, Averroes discussed the topic of human dissection and autopsy. Although he never undertook human dissection, he was aware of it being carried out by some of his contemporaries, such as Ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar), and appears to have supported the practice. Averroes stated that the "practice of dissection strengthens the faith"[11] due to his view of the human body as "the remarkable handiwork of God in his creation."[12]

In urology, Averroes identified the issues of sexual dysfunction and erectile dysfunction, and was among the first to prescribe medication for the treatment of these problems. He used several methods of therapy for this issue, including the single drug method where a tested drug is prescribed, and a "combination method of either a drug or food." Most of these drugs were oral medication, though a few patients were also treated through topical or transurethral means.[13]

In neurology and neuroscience, Averroes suggested the existence of Parkinson's disease, and in ophthalmology and optics, he was the first to attribute photoreceptor properties to the retina.[14] In his Coliget, he was also the first to suggest that the principal organ of sight might be the arachnoid membrane (aranea). His work led to much discussion in 16th century Europe over whether the principal organ of sight is the traditional Galenic crystalline humour or the Averroist aranea, which in turn led to the discovery that the retina is the principal organ of sight.[15]


Physics

In Averroes' commentary on Aristotle's Physics, he commented on the theory of motion proposed by Ibn Bajjah (Avempace) in Text 71, and also made his own contributions to physics and mechanics.

Averroes was the first to define and measure force as "the rate at which work is done in changing the kinetic condition of a material body"[16] and the first to correctly argue "that the effect and measure of force is change in the kinetic condition of a materially resistant mass."[17]

Significance

Averroes, detail of the fresco The School of Athens by Raphael

Averroes is most famous for his translations and commentaries of Aristotle's works, which had been mostly forgotten in the West. Before 1150, only a few translated works of Aristotle existed in Latin Europe, and they were not studied much or given much credence by monastic scholars. It was through the Latin translations of Averroes's work beginning in the 12th century that the legacy of Aristotle became more widely known in the medieval West.

Averroes' argument in The Decisive Treatise provided a justification for the emancipation of science and philosophy from official Ash'ari theology, thus Averroism is considered by some writers as a precursor to modern secularism,[18][19] or even as the founding father of secular thought in Western Europe.[2] George Sarton, the father of the history of science, writes:

"Averroes was great because of the tremendous stir he made in the minds of men for centuries. A history of Averroism would include up to the end of the sixteenth-century, a period of four centuries which would perhaps deserve as much as any other to be called the Middle Ages, for it was the real transition between ancient and modern methods."[20]

Averroes's work on Aristotle spans almost three decades, and he wrote commentaries on almost all of Aristotle's work except for Aristotle's Politics, to which he did not have access. Averroes greatly influenced philosophy in the Islamic world. His death coincides with a change in the culture of Al-Andalus. In his work Fasl al-Maqāl (translated a. o. as The Decisive Treatise), he stresses the importance of analytical thinking as a prerequisite to interpret the Qur'an; this is in contrast to orthodox Muslim theology, where the emphasis is less on analytical thinking but on extensive knowledge of sources other than the Qur'an, i.e. the hadith.

Hebrew translations of his work also had a lasting impact on Jewish philosophy. His ideas were assimilated by Siger of Brabant and Thomas Aquinas and others (especially in the University of Paris) within the Christian scholastic tradition which valued Aristotelian logic. Famous scholastics such as Aquinas believed him to be so important they did not refer to him by name, simply calling him "The Commentator" and calling Aristotle "The Philosopher." Averroes's treatise on Plato's Republic has played a major role in both the transmission and the adaptation of the Platonic tradition in the West. It has been a primary source in medieval political philosophy. On the other hand he was feared by many Christian theologians, who accused him of advocating a "double truth" and denying orthodox doctrines such as individual immortality, and an underground mythology grew up stigmatising him as the ultimate unbeliever; these accusations were largely based on misunderstandings of his work.[21]

Cultural influences

Commentarium magnum Averrois in Aristotelis De Anima libros. French manuscript, third quarter of the 13th century

Reflecting the respect which medieval European scholars paid to him, Averroes is named by Dante in The Divine Comedy with the great pagan philosophers whose spirits dwell in "the place that favor owes to fame" in Limbo.

Averroes appears in a short story by Jorge Luis Borges, entitled "Averroes's Search", in which he is portrayed trying to find the meanings of the words tragedy and comedy. He is briefly mentioned in the novel Ulysses by James Joyce alongside Maimonides. He appears to be waiting outside the walls of the ancient city of Cordoba in Alamgir Hashmi's poem In Cordoba. He is also the main character in Destiny, a Youssef Chahine film.

The asteroid "8318 Averroes" was named in his honor.

List of Works

Logic

Short Commentary

[1] Short Commentary on Aristotle's Organon / Tajrīd al-ʾaqāwīl al-ḍarūrīya min ṣināʿat al-manṭiq (Aka: Al-ḍarūrī; Al-ḍarūrī fī l-manṭiq; Kitāb fī l-manṭiq; Muḫtaṣar fī l-manṭiq) ca. 552/1157

Middle Commentaries

[2] Middle Commentary on the Isagoge / Talḫīṣ madḫal fī Fūrfūrīyūš (Aka: Talḥīṣ kitāb ʾĪsāġūjī)
Talḫīṣ kitāb ʾArisṭū fī l-manṭiq
[3] Middle Commentary on the Categories / Talḫīṣ kitāb al-maqūlāt
[4] Middle Commentary on Peri hermeneias / Talḫīṣ kitāb al-ʿibāra
[5] Middle Commentary on the Prior Analytics / Talḫīṣ kitāb al-qiyās
[6] Middle Commentary on the Posterior Analytics / Talḫīṣ kitāb al-burhān (Aka: Talḫīṣ kitāb al-burhān li-ʾArisṭūṭālīs; Talḫīṣ kitāb al-burhān lahū)
[7] Middle Commentary on the Topics / Talḫīṣ kitāb al-jadal
[8] Middle Commentary on the Sophistici Elenchi / Talḫīṣ kitāb al-safsaṭa
[9] Middle Commentary on the Rhethorics / Talḫīṣ al-ḫiṭāba [570/1175 or 571/1176]
[10] Middle Commentary on the Poetics / Talḫīṣ kitāb al-šiʿr

Long Commentaries

[11] Long Commentary on the Prior Analytics (?) / Šarḥ kitāb al-qiyās li-ʾArisṭūṭālīs (Aka: Kitāb šarḥ kitāb al-qiyās li-ʾArisṭū)
[12] Long Commentary on the Posterior Analytics / Šarḥ kitāb al-burhān

Questions

[13] Questions on Logic / Quæsita in libros logicæ Aristotelis (Part of: Masāʿil fī l-ḥikma, aka: Muqaddimāt fī l-ḥikma)

Questions on the Isagoge

[13.1] On Alfarabi on the Isagoge about genus and differentia / Kalām ʿalā qawl ʾAbī Naṣr fī l-madḫal wa-l-jins wa-l-faṣl yuštarikān

Questions on the Categories

[13.2] On substantial and accidental universals / Al-qawl fī kullīyāt al-jawhar wa-kullīyāt al-ʾaʿraḍ (Aka: Bāb ʿalā maqūla ʾawwal kitāb ʾAbī Naṣr (?), Maqāla ʿalā ʾawwal maqūla ʾAbī Naṣr (?))

Questions on Peri hermeneias

[13.3] On the copula and on derived nouns / Maqāla fī l-kalima wa-l-ism al-muštaqq (Aka: Kalām lahū ʿalā l-kalima wa-l-ism al-muštaqq, Min kitāb al-ʿibāra li-ʾAbī Naṣr) [13.4] On compound and simple predicates / Min kitāb al-ʿibāra (Aka: De prædicatis compositis et divisis)

Questions on the Prior Analytics

[13.5] On the definition: Critique of the positions of Alexander and Alfarabi / Al-qawl fī l-ḥadd wa-naqd mā ḏahaba ʾilayhī al-ʾIskandar wa-ʾAbū Naṣr (Aka: Maqāla fī l-ḥadd (juzʾ al-qiyās) wa-naqd maḏahabay al-ʾIskandar wa-ʾAbī Naṣr; De definitione termini)
[13.6] Critique of Avicenna's position on the conversion of premises / Naqd maḏhab Ibn Sīnā fī inʿikās al-qaḍāyā (Aka: Maqāla fī naqd maḏhab Ibn Sīnā fī ʿaks al-qaḍāyā; De conversionibus)
[13.7] Critique of Themistius's position on the contingent syllogisms in the first and second figure / Naqd maḏhab Tāmisṭiyūs fī l-maqāyīs al-mumkina fī l-šaklayn al-ʾawwal wa-l-ṯānī (Aka: De conditione syllogismorum contingentium circa duo eorum attributa, videlicet de numerositate illationis, et de figura in qua non concludunt)
[13.8] Chapter on absolute premises / Maqāla fī l-muqaddima al-muṭlaqa (Aka: Quid sit propositio absoluta id est de inesse)
[13.9] On the types of conclusions in compound syllogisms / Al-qawl fī jihāt al-natāʾij fī l-maqāyīs al-murakkaba wa-fī maʿnā al-maqūl ʿalā l-kull
[13.10] Chapter on the dependency of the types of conclusions from the types of premises / Maqāla [...] fī luzūm jihāt al-natāʾij li-jihāt al-muqaddimāt
[13.11] On the mixing of contingent and necessary premises / De mistione contingentis et necessarii
[13.12] Chapter on the dependency of the conclusions from mixed syllogisms
[13.13] Chapter on the meaning of "predicated on everything" / Maqāla [...] fī maʿnā al- maqūl ʿalā l-kull wa-ġayr ḏālika
[13.14] Chapter on conditional syllogisms / Maqāla fī l-maqāʾis al-šarṭīya (Aka: Maqāla fī l-qiyās; De conditionali, an per ipsum ostendatur quæsitum primum ignotum)
[13.15] Exposition of Alfarabi's commentary on the first book of the Prior Analytics / Talḫīṣ šarḥ ʾAbī Naṣr [li-]l-maqāla al-ʾūlā min al-qiyās li-l-ḥakīm

Questions on the Posterior Analytics

[13.16] On the predicates in demonstrations / Al-qawl fī l-maḥmūlāt al-barāhīn (Aka: Epistola de primitate prædicatorum in demonstrationibus)
[13.17] On Alfarabi's Book on Demonstration / Min kitāb al-burhān li-ʾAbī Naṣr
[13.18] On the definition of individuals / Al-qawl fī ḥadd al-šaḫṣ (Aka: An definitio sit particularis aut universalis tantum)
[13.19] On the three types of definition in relation to demonstrations / De triplici genere diffinitionum in ordine ad demonstrationem
[13.20] On whether the middle term is the cause of the major term / De medio demonstrationis an sit causa maioris extremi
[13.21] Treatise on the disagreement of Alfarabi and Aristotle on the order of the Posterior Analytics and the rules of demonstrations and definitions / Kitāb fī mā ḫālafa ʾAbū Naṣr li-ʾArisṭū fī kitāb al-burhān min tartībihī wa-qawānīn al-barāhīn wa-l-ḥudūd (Aka: De conditionibus præmissarum demonstrationis)
[13.22] On the conditions for the necessity of the premises of demonstrations / De conditionibus quæ requiruntur ad necessitatem præmissarum demonstrationum
[13.23] On how a demonstration can be transferred from one science to another / Quomodo fiat translatio ab una arte in aliam
[13.24] On demonstrations quia / De demonstrationibus quia
[13.25] On the sense in which the definition is better known than the thing defined / Quomodo definitio sit notior ipso definito
[13.26] On the definitions which are said to differ from demonstrations in their order / De definitionibus quæ dicuntur positione differentes a demonstratione

Philosophy of Nature

Physics

[14] Short Commentary on the Physics / Jawāmiʿ al-samāʾ al-ṭabīʿī (Part of: Al-jawāmiʿ fī l-falsafa; Jawāmiʿ kutub ʾArisṭūṭālīs fī l-ṭabīʿīyāt wa-l-ʾilāhīyāt)
[15] Middle Commentary on the Physics / Talḫīṣ kitāb al-samāʾ al- al-ṭabīʿī (Aka: [...] li-ʾArisṭūṭālīs; Talḫīṣ al- ṭabīʿī; Wa-laḫaṣa kitāb al-samāʿ al-ṭabīʿī li-ʾArisṭūṭālīs)
[16] Long Commentary on the Physics / Šarḥ [kitāb] al-samāʾ al-ṭabīʿī

On the Heaven

[17] Short Commentary on De cælo / Jawāmiʿ al-samāʾ wa-l-ʿālam (Part of: Al-jawāmiʿ fī l-falsafa; Jawāmiʿ kutub ʾArisṭūṭālīs fī l-ṭabīʿīyāt wa-l-ʾilāhīyāt)
[18] Middle Commentary on De cælo / Talḫīṣ [kitāb] al-samāʾ wa-l-ʿālam
[19] Long Commentary on De cælo / Šarḥ kitāb al-samāʾ wa-l-ʿālam (Aka: Šarḥ kitāb al-samāʾ wa-l-ʿālam li-ʾArisṭūṭālīs; Šarḥ al-samāʾ wa-l-ʿālam)
[20] De substantia orbis

On Generation and Corruption

[21] Short Commentary on De generatione et corruptione / Jawāmiʿ kitāb al-kaun wa-l-fasād (Part of: Al-jawāmiʿ fī l-falsafa; Jawāmiʿ kutub ʾArisṭūṭālīs fī l-ṭabīʿīyāt wa-l-ʾilāhīyāt)
[22] Middle Commentary on De generatione et corruptione / Talḫīṣ [kitāb] al-kaun wa-l-fasād 567/1172

Meteorology

[23] Short Commentary on the Meteorology / Jawāmiʿ kitāb al-ʾaṯār al-ʿulwīya (Part of: Al-jawāmiʿ fī l-falsafa; Jawāmiʿ kutub ʾArisṭūṭālīs fī l-ṭabīʿīyāt wa-l-ʾilāhīyāt)
[24] Middle Commentary on the Meteorology / Talḫīṣ [kitāb] al-ʾāṯār al-ʿulwīya

Biology

[25] Middle(?) Commentary on De animalibus / Talḫīṣ tisʿ maqālāt min kitāb al-ḥayawān (Aka: Talḫīṣ tisʿ maqālāt min kitāb al-ḥayawān wa-ḏālika min al-ḥādīya ʿašr ʾilā ʾāḫar al-diwān; Talḫīṣ fī l-maqāla al-ḥādīya ʿašara min kitāb al-ḥayawān li-ʾArisṭūṭālīs wa-ḏālika tisʿ maqālāt; Kitāb al-ḥayawān) 565/1169
[26] Chapter on animals / Maqāla fī l-ḥayawān (Aka: Kalām lahū ʿalā l-ḥayawān)
[27] Short Commentary on De plantis

Questions

[28] Questions on the Philosophy of Nature / Sefer ha-derušim ha-ṭibʿiyim

Psychology

Commentaries

[29] "Book on the Soul" or Short Commentary on De anima / Kitāb al-nafs
[30] Middle Commentary on De anima / Talḫīṣ kitāb al-nafs 577/1181
[31] Long Commentary on De anima / Šarḥ kitāb al-nafs (Aka: Šarḥ kitāb al-nafs li-ʾArisṭūṭālīs)
[32] Commentary on the Parva naturalia / Talḫīṣ al-ḥiss wa-l-maḥsūs. Sevilla, 13. Rabīʿ al-ʾāḫar 565 [ca. 01/04/1170]

Treatises on the Intellect

[33] Enquiry whether the intellect in us, named the material intellect, is able to know in the end the separate forms or not =Epistle on the possibility of conjunction / Kitāb fī l-faḥṣ hal yumkin al-ʿaql ʾallaḏī fīnā wa-huwa al-musammā bi-l-hayūlānī ʾan yaʿqila al-ṣuwar al-mufāriqa bi-ʾāḫirihī ʾau lā yumkin ḏālika wa-huwa al-maṭlūb ʾallaḏī kāna ʾArisṭūṭālīs waʿadanā bi-l-faḥṣ ʿanhū fī kitāb al-nafs (Aka: ʾIggeret ʾefšarut ha-debequt)
[34] Chapter on the conjunction of the separate intellect with man / Maqāla fī ttiṣāl al-ʿaql al-mufāriq bi-l-ʾinsān (Aka: Masʾala fī ʿilm al-nafs suʾila ʿanhā fa-ʾajāba fīha; Epistola de connexione intellectus abstracti cum homine)
[35] Chapter on the conjunction of intellect with man / Maqāla fī ttiṣāl al-ʿaql bi-l-ʾinsān (Aka: Maqāla ʾaiḍan fī ttiṣāl al-ʿaql bi-l-ʾinsān; Maqāla fī ḏālika ʾaiḍan)
[36] Chapter on the intellect / Maqāla fī l-ʿaql (Aka: Maqāla ʾuḫrā fī ʿilm al-nafs ʾaiḍan)
[37] Commentary on Alexander's treatise on the intellect / Šarḥ maqālat al-ʾIskandar fī l-ʿaql
[38] Commentary on Avempace's epistle on the conjunction of the intellect with man / Šarḥ risālat ittiṣāl al-ʿaql bi-l-ʾinsān li-bn al-Ṣāʾiġ

ʿAbd Allāh Ibn Rušd (Son of Averroes)

[39] On whether the active intellect unites with the material intellect whilst it is clothed with the body / Hal yattaṣilu bi-l-ʿaql al-hayūlānī al-ʿaql al-faʿʿāl wa-huwa multabis bi-l-jism

Anonymous

[40] De animæ beatudine / Tractatus Aueroys de perfectione naturali intellectus secundum mentem philosophi

Metaphysics

Commentaries

[41] Short Commentary on the Metaphysics / Jawāmiʿ kitāb mā baʿd al-ṭabīʿa (Part of: Jawāmiʿ kutub ʾArisṭūṭālīs fī l-ṭabīʿīyāt wa-l-ʾilāhīyāt; Al-gawāmiʿ fī l-falsafa)
[42] Middle Commentary on the Metaphysics / Talḫīṣ mā baʿd al-ṭabīʿa (Aka: Talḫīṣ kitāb mā baʿd al-ṭabīʿa li-ʾArisṭūṭālīs; Kitāb talḫīṣ mā baʿd al-ṭabīʿa li-ʾArisṭūṭālīs; Averrois in septem libros media expositio ab Hælia Cretensi in latinum conversa, Ante hac nunquam excusa, summis vigiliis elaborata) Cordova, 25. Rabīʿ al-ʾāḫar 570 [11/23/1174].
[43] Long Commentary on the Metaphysics / Šarḥ mā baʿd al-ṭabīʿa.

Practical Philosophy

[x] Middle Commentary on the Nicomachean Ethics
[x] Epitome of Plato's Republic

Mathematics

Epitome of the Almagest


See also

* List of Arab scientists and scholars
* List of Islamic studies scholars

Endnotes

1. ^ H-Net Review: Eric Ormsby on Averroes (Ibn Rushd): His Life, Works and Influence
2. ^ a b Majid Fakhry (2001). Averroes: His Life, Works and Influence. Oneworld Publications. ISBN 1851682694.
3. ^ Seyyed Hossein Nasr and Oliver Leaman (1996), History of Islamic Philosophy, p. 314, Routledge, ISBN 0415131596.
4. ^ "Inventions et decouvertes au Moyen-Age", Samuel Sadaune, p.112
5. ^ Irwin, Jones (Autumn 2002), "Averroes' Reason: A Medieval Tale of Christianity and Islam", The Philosopher LXXXX (2)
6. ^ H. Chad Hillier (2006). Ibn Rushd (Averroes) (1126 - 1198 CE), Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
7. ^ Owen Gingerich (April 1986). "Islamic astronomy", Scientific American 254 (10), p. 74.
8. ^ Roger Ariew (1992). "Theory of Comets at Paris During the Seventeenth Century", Journal of the History of Ideas 53 (3), p. 355-372.
9. ^ Prof. Hamed A. Ead, Averroes As A Physician, University of Cairo.
10. ^ History of logic: Arabic logic, Encyclopædia Britannica.
11. ^ Dr. Albert Zaki Iskandar, Ibn ul-Nafees has Dissected the Human Body, Encyclopedia of Islamic World.
12. ^ Sami Hamarneh (1970), "Averroes, Contra Galenum by J. Christoph Burgel", Journal of the American Oriental Society 90 (2), p. 406.
13. ^ A. Al Dayela and N. al-Zuhair (2006), "Single drug therapy in the treatment of male sexual/erectile dysfunction in Islamic medicine", Urology 68 (1), p. 253-254.
14. ^ Martin-Araguz, A.; Bustamante-Martinez, C.; Fernandez-Armayor, Ajo V.; Moreno-Martinez, J. M. (2002). "Neuroscience in al-Andalus and its influence on medieval scholastic medicine", Revista de neurología 34 (9), p. 877-892.
15. ^ Lindberg, David C. (1981), Theories of Vision from Al-kindi to Kepler, University of Chicago Press, p. 238, ISBN 0226482359
16. ^ Ernest A. Moody (June 1951). "Galileo and Avempace: The Dynamics of the Leaning Tower Experiment (II)", Journal of the History of Ideas 12 (3), p. 375-422 [375].
17. ^ Ernest A. Moody (June 1951). "Galileo and Avempace: The Dynamics of the Leaning Tower Experiment (II)", Journal of the History of Ideas 12 (3), p. 375-422 [380].
18. ^ Abdel Wahab El Messeri. Episode 21: Ibn Rushd, Everything you wanted to know about Islam but was afraid to Ask, Philosophia Islamica.
19. ^ Fauzi M. Najjar (Spring, 1996). The debate on Islam and secularism in Egypt, Arab Studies Quarterly (ASQ).
20. ^ George Sarton, Introduction to the History of Science
(cf. Prof. Hamed A. Ead, Averroes As A Physician)
21. ^ Renan, Averroès et l'averroïsme: "the history of 'Averroism' is the history of a misunderstanding".

Further reading
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Author:Ibn Rushd

* Averroes, Translated by Ralph Lerner (2005). Averroes On Plato's Republic. Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-8975-X.

* Kogan, Barry S. (1985). Averroes and the Metaphysics of Causation. SUNY Press. ISBN 0-88706-063-3.

* Leaman, Olivier. Averroes and his philosophy. Routledge. ISBN 0-7007-0675-5.

* Baffioni, Carmela (2004). Averroes and the Aristotelian Heritage. Guida Editori. ISBN 88-7188-862-6.

External links

* Averroes, Encyclopædia Britannica, most recent edition, full-article click "next page".
* "Averroes" in the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia.
* Averroes, Islamic Philosophy Online
* Averroes Database, including full bibliography of his works
* Averroes Foundation for Faith and Reason in Islam
* "Averroes", BBC Radio 4 discussion, 5th October 2006, "In Our Time" programme.
* Averroes at The Online Library of Liberty