Averroes

Ibn Rushd (1126-1198), known in the Latin world as Averroës, was a jurist, physician, and philosopher who played a decisive role in the history of philosophic thought : he embraced the beliefs of Aristotle and, along with Maimonide, assisted in transmitting it to the Christian Western world, mainly through the agency of Thomas Aquinas. More importantly, by acknowledging the Koran as a doctrine to be understood and not merely believed, he instilled Reason in the heart of Faith. Relying upon the persuasive logic of Aristotle, Averroës methodically set about to delineate the validity limits of judgement and establish the rules under which it could be " properly " exercised, while taking care to specify the optimal forms by persuasion could be achieved : demonstration the purest form of knowledge... for scholars, dialectic discussion, and for everyone else (including theologians), persuasive rhetoric. What this book attempts to do is review and closely examine Averroës' most important project : to construct a strong defense of philosophy based on a careful and literal reading of the Koran, and a legal interpretation of religious law. The work of this Andalusian thinker is both an assimilation of Greek philosophy and a creative adaptation of the latter to Arabian philosophy. It provides us with the potential to establish a means of comparison between the two cultures.A philosopher and mathematician, Ali Ben Makhlouf, teaches philosophy at Paris X-Nanterre university. He has written several published works on Russel and Frege.