Averroism
Averroism refers to a school of medieval philosophy based on the application of the works of 12th-century Andalusian philosopher Averroes, (known in his time in Arabic as ابن رشد, ibn Rushd, 1126–1198) a commentator on Aristotle, in 13th-century Latin Christian scholasticism.
Latin translations of Averroes' work became widely available at the universities which were springing up in Western Europe in the 13th century, and were received by scholasticists such as Siger of Brabant and Boetius of Dacia, who examined Christian doctrines through reasoning and intellectual analysis.[1][2]
The term Averroist was coined by Thomas Aquinas in the restricted sense of the Averroists' "unity of the intellect" doctrine in his book De unitate intellectus contra Averroistas.[3] Based on this, Averroism came to be near-synonymous with atheism in late medieval usage.[4]
As a historiographical category, Averroism was first defined by Ernest Renan in Averroès et l'averroïsme (1852) in the sense of radical or heterodox Aristotelianism.[5]
The reception of Averroes in Jewish thought has been termed "Jewish Averroism". Jewish Averroist thought flourished in the later 14th century, and gradually declined in the course of the 15th century. The last representative of Jewish Averroism was Elia del Medigo, writing in 1485.
Jewish Averroism[edit]
In the centuries following Averroes' death there were many Jewish Averroist philosophers, notably Elijah Delmedigo; Gersonides wrote a supercommentary on Averroes' Aristotelian commentaries.[9] Some Averroist influence has been traced in Leone Ebreo's Dialoghi d'Amore, and Baruch Spinoza was likely influenced by Averroes' commentaries on Aristotle.[10]
Reception of Averroes in Islam[edit]
There was no formal school or movement of Rushdiyya ("Averroism") in the Islamic tradition. The decline of Kalam or "Islamic scholastic theology" and Muʿtazila or "Islamic rationalism" has precluded a reception of Averroes in Islamic thought that would parallel that in Christian or Jewish philosophy. Nevertheless, a revival of rationalist traditions in medieval Islamic philosophy has been called for in modern Arab nationalism.[11] Averroes became something of a symbolic figure in the debate over the decline and proposed revitalization of Islamic thought and Islamic society in the later 20th century. A notable proponent of such a revival of Averroist thought in Islamic society was Mohammed Abed al-Jabri with his Critique of Arab Reason (1982).[12]