Throughout the 11th and 12th centuries, Avicenna’s philosophy was the dominant ideology of Islam – characterized by a Neo-Platonist take on Aristotle’s teachings. However, like any other school of thought, it had its fair share of critics. Strict theologists such as Ghazali saw Greek philosophy, especially Aristotelianism, as contrary to Islamic ideas portrayed in Quran, much similar to how steadfast Christians viewed it. Yet his criticism made philosophy’s influence on Islam much more intense. A notable opponent of Ghazali was Ibn Rushd – known as Averroes, from Iberia. Not only Ghazali but he also rebutted Avicenna’s Neo-Platonist ideas and favored Aristotle’s empirical and rational approach. He argued, like most Islamic philosophers that Islam and Philosophy had no incompatibility; instead, the Quran’s poetic teachings can be interpreted as philosophical reasoning. However, Averroes insisted that this interpretation should only be done by intellectuals – the idea paradoxically similar to that of Plato. Regardless of how much controversy his ideologies garnered, his work gained significant anticipation in Christian scholastic philosophy.
Introduction
How do we really define Philosophy? The Greek word φιλοσοφία – Philosophia. Or as the term has been coined by modern Western language – Philosophy. The literal meaning of this word is relatively static. Derived from its Greek origin it comprises two separate words...
