Neoplatonism Through the Renaissance

Islam’s Influence

Why was Averroës considered important by other philosophers?

Averroës, known as ibn-Rushd in the Islamic world (c. 1126–c. 1198), was born in Córdoba, Spain. He brought the tradition of comparative philosophy—begun by Avicenna and rendered problematic by al-Gazali—to a new level of intellectual sophistication. His main project was to settle the debate among his contemporaries about whether Aristotle’s philosophy was compatible with Islam, as Avicenna had claimed, or opposed to it as al-Galzali (1058–1111) had objected.



Averroës continued the work of Avicenna, commenting on the debate about Aristotlean philosophy and its compatibility with Islam (Art Archive).