Ibn Rushd
Also called: Averroes · Topic: Renaissance, Reformation and the Scientific Revolution · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 5 "Changing Cultural Traditions"
Meaning
Ibn Rushd (1126–98), known in Latin as Averroes, was an Arab philosopher from Spain. He wrote famous commentaries (explanations) on Aristotle. He tried to settle the conflict between philosophical knowledge (faylasuf, the thinking of a philosopher) and religious belief. Christian thinkers in Europe adopted his method.
Example
In Renaissance Italy, Averroes was honoured as a Muslim 'man of wisdom'. His Latin name was so familiar that later generations thought he was a European.
Don't confuse with
- Ibn Sina (Avicenna): a physician and philosopher from Bukhara in Central Asia, known mainly for medicine. Ibn Rushd was from Spain and known mainly for philosophy.
- al-Razi (Rhazes): the author of a medical encyclopaedia, not a philosopher of faith and reason.