The Book of the Decisive Treatise Determining the Connection Between the Law and Wisdom; and, The Epistle Dedicatory

The Book of the Decisive Treatise Determining the Connection Between the Law and Wisdom; and, The Epistle Dedicatory

Islam and philosophy -- Early works to 1800

Averroës (Ibn Rushd, 1126-1198) emerged from an eminent family in Muslim Spain to become the first and last great Aristotelian of the classical Islamic world his meticulous commentaries influenced Christian thinkers and earned him favorable mention (and a relatively pleasant fate) in Dante's Divina Commedia. The Book of the Decisive Treatise was and remains one his most important works and one of history's best defenses of the legitimate role of reason in a community of faith. The text presents itself as a plea before a tribunal in which the divinely revealed Law of Islam is the sole authority Averroës, critical of the anti-philosophical tone of the Islamic establishment, argues that the Law not only permits but also mandates the study of philosophy and syllogistic or logical reasoning, defending earlier Muslim philosophers and dismissing criticisms of them as more harmful to the Islamic community than the philosophers' own views had been. As he details the three fundamental methods the Law uses to aid people of varied capacities and temperaments, Averroës reveals a carefully formed and remarkably argued conception of the boundaries and uses of faith and reason.

Averroës

Provo, Utah : Brigham Young University Press

2001

Translation, with introduction and notes, by Charles E. Butterworth

Series: Islamic translation series.

Machine derived contents note: Preface -- Biographical Sketch of Averros︠ -- Translator's Introduction to the Decisive Treatise -- Translator's Introduction to the Epistle Dedicatory -- The Book of the Decisive Treatise -- I. Introduction -- II. That philosophy and logic are obligatory -- III. That demonstration accords with the Law -- IV. Summary -- V. On what is intended by the Law and its methods -- VI. On the emergence of factions within Islam -- VII. Conclusion -- Epistle Dedicatory -- I. Introduction -- II. Statement of the doubt -- III. The solution -- IV. Consequences -- V. Conclusion -- Appendix -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index of Quranic Verses -- Index of Names and Terms.

Book