Medieval · 1126–1198
Who influenced Averroes?
Influences and legacy
The Commentator whose readings of Aristotle reignited philosophy in Latin Europe.
Averroes was influenced by Aristotle, Avicenna and Ibn Tufail, and went on to influence Thomas Aquinas, Siger of Brabant and Gersonides. That is 6 lines of the 448 documented lines of influence between the 279 thinkers on this map.
Read on Wikipedia Portrait: Sailko, CC BY 3.0 See the whole map
Who was Averroes?
Ibn Rushd, Latinised as Averroes, was an Andalusian polymath and jurist who wrote more than 100 books on philosophy, theology, medicine, astronomy, law and more. His many commentaries on Aristotle earned him the name "The Commentator" in the West. He tried to restore Aristotle's original teaching against the Neoplatonism of al-Farabi and Avicenna, and defended philosophy against theologians such as al-Ghazali.
He held that philosophy is permitted in Islam and that scripture should be read allegorically where it seems to contradict reason. In medicine he described the symptoms of Parkinson's disease, and his Colliget served as a textbook in Europe for centuries. Latin translations of his commentaries revived Western interest in Aristotle and gave rise to Averroism, condemned by the Church in 1270 and 1277.
Summarized from the lead of the Wikipedia article.
Who influenced Averroes?
3 direct influences on this map, earliest first.
- Aristotle 384–322 BC
- Avicenna 980–1037
- Ibn Tufail c. 1105–1185
Who did Averroes influence?
3 thinkers on this map draw directly on Averroes.
- Thomas Aquinas 1225–1274
- Siger of Brabant c. 1240–1284
- Gersonides 1288–1344
The line of teachers behind Averroes
The longest documented line of influence ending at Averroes runs 11 generations back, to Thales of Miletus.
Two steps away from Averroes
Indirect influences
The second generation
- Through Thomas Aquinas: Duns Scotus, René Descartes
Contemporaries of Averroes
Thinkers on this map born within 25 years of Averroes, with no direct line between them.
- John of Salisbury c. 1120–1180
- Maimonides 1138–1204
Averroes by the numbers
- Direct influences
- 3
- Direct followers
- 3 — #33 of 279 on this map
- Thinkers upstream
- 20
- Thinkers downstream
- 139
- Wikipedia languages
- 111 — #6 of 58 among medieval philosophers
- Card rarity
- Legendary
Questions about Averroes
- Who influenced Averroes?
- Aristotle, Avicenna and Ibn Tufail.
- Who did Averroes influence?
- Thomas Aquinas, Siger of Brabant and Gersonides.
- When did Averroes live?
- 1126–1198. The map files Averroes under the medieval period.
- How rare is the Averroes card?
- Wikipedia carries an article on Averroes in 111 languages, which makes it a Legendary card. Legendary starts at 100 languages, Epic at 50 and Rare at 25.
More medieval philosophers
- Augustine of Hippo AD 354–430
- Thomas Aquinas 1225–1274
- Avicenna 980–1037
- Ibn Khaldun 1332–1406
- Al-Ghazali c. 1058–1111
- Erasmus 1466–1536
- Hypatia c. 355–415
- Hildegard of Bingen 1098–1179