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Thinkers

Averroes (Ibn Rushd)

Islamic · Europe · 1126 to 1198

Judge and doctor in Muslim Spain. His detailed commentaries on Aristotle, and his defence of philosophy, shaped both Islamic and Christian thought in Europe.

What it is

Ibn Rushd (1126 to 1198), known in the Latin West as Averroes, was an Andalusian philosopher, physician and judge who wrote the commentaries on Aristotle that revived Western interest in ancient Greek philosophy, and who argued that philosophy and religion are not rivals. He is counted among the great figures of philosophy in the Muslim world and as a foundational source for later European thought.

He lived in Muslim Spain under the Almohad dynasty. He came from a family of judges and became both a jurist and a physician, serving at the court of the caliph in Marrakesh. In 1195 his writings were banned, his books were burned, and he was exiled to Lucena, a largely Jewish village south of Cordova. He died in 1198. His name, in a corrupted Latin form, became well known across Christian Europe.

The main ideas

  • Aristotle as the guide. He held that Aristotle should be the leading guide in philosophy, and wrote commentaries on his works to develop philosophy as a demonstrative science.
  • Philosophy can demonstrate. In many fields, he said, careful reasoning can reach certainty. Where that is not practical, other ways of persuading people have to be used.
  • Philosophy and religion work together. In his Decisive Treatise he argued for the value of philosophy to Islam and examined the supposed tension between philosophy and religion. Philosophy, he held, should play a central part in religious inquiry and not be an alternative to it.
  • An answer to al-Ghazali. In The Incoherence of the Incoherence he replied directly to al-Ghazali, a critic who had struck a blow against philosophy a few decades earlier.
  • Law and medicine. He also wrote on religious law and its reasoning and on medicine, areas where the demands of the subject and of the audience call for different methods than strict demonstration.

What it looks like in practice

Picture a judge faced with a hard case who is also a student of Aristotle. In the court she weighs precedents and the intent of the law, and she explains her ruling in terms the parties can follow. In her study she follows the strict steps of a proof. Averroes treats these as different tools for different audiences, not as enemies, and holds that a good life of thought uses both. This is an illustration of his approach, not a case he described.

Books and moments

  • The commentaries on Aristotle are his main body of work and the reason for his later fame in Europe.
  • The Decisive Treatise argues that philosophy and religion belong together.
  • The Incoherence of the Incoherence answers al-Ghazali's attack on philosophers.
  • The exile of 1195 brought a ban and the burning of his books.

Questions and criticism

  • Can reason and revelation always agree? His position that philosophy and religion do not truly conflict is bold. It is fair to ask what he would have done where they appeared to clash.
  • Who is the audience? He held that different people need different kinds of argument. It is fair to ask whether that makes the truth depend on who is listening.
  • How much was he Aristotle's follower? Readers disagree about how far his commentaries present his own views and how far they present Aristotle's.

Close neighbours

The page on Aristotle shows the thinker he explained.

Written by epchē in our own words, and checked against independent sources on 9 October 2026. The sources are listed below.

Who they connect to

Influenced

  • Moses Maimonides · Maimonides knew and used Averroes' commentaries on Aristotle late in life.
  • Thomas Aquinas · Aquinas relied on Averroes' commentaries to read Aristotle, even where he rejected them.

Influenced by

  • Al-Farabi · Averroes drew on al-Farabi's political and logical works and disagreed with him on some points.
  • Aristotle · Averroes' commentaries on Aristotle earned him the title of the Commentator.
  • Ibn Tufayl · Ibn Tufayl introduced Averroes to the ruler and encouraged his work on Aristotle.

Reacted against

  • Al-Ghazali · The Incoherence of the Incoherence answers Al-Ghazali's attack on the philosophers point by point.
  • Ibn Sina (Avicenna) · Averroes argued that Avicenna had drifted from Aristotle's own teaching.

Reacted against by

  • Thomas Aquinas · Aquinas wrote a treatise against the view that all humans share one intellect.

Other Islamic thinkers

Sources we used

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