The book of the decisive treatise determining the connection between the law and wisdom
Subtitle: and, The epistle dedicatory
By: Averroes ; translation, with introduction and notes, by Charles E. Butterworth.
Contributors: Averroës, 1126-1198.
Series: Islamic translation series
Publisher: Brigham Young University Press; Brigham Young University
Published: 2001
Place of publication: [Utah]
Language: eng
Number of pages: 170
Subjects: Islam and philosophy -- Early works to 1800.
Genres: Early works to 1800.
Other titles: Book of the decisive treatise determining the connection between the law and wisdom ; and, The epistle dedicatory; Epistle dedicatory.
Description: "Averroes (Ibn Rushd, 1126-1198 C.E.) emerged from an eminent family of scholars and jurists in Muslim Spain. He distinguished himself as an authority on medicine and jurisprudence, but he is most widely known today as the first and last great Aristotelian in the classical Islamic world. His meticulous commentaries on Aristotle influenced Latin Christian thinkers and earned him favorable mention (and a relatively pleasant fate) in Dante's Divina Commedia." "The Decisive Treatise can be viewed as a plea before a tribunal in which the divinely revealed Law of Islam is the sole acknowledged authority. Averroes argues that the Law not only permits but mandates the study of philosophy and syllogistic or logical reasoning. In the course of his argument, he acquits certain earlier Muslim philosophers - particularly Avicenna (Ibn Sina) and al-Farabi - of the charge of unbelief. He dismisses al-Ghazali's criticisms of them as inconsistent and, indeed, as more harmful to the Islamic community than the philosophers' own views had been. For, says Averroes, al-Ghazali discussed difficult matters before audiences unequipped to understand them."--BOOK JACKET.