Reading a controversy
Averroes responds point by point to al-Ghazali’s criticisms of philosophers. The debate concerns causation, divine knowledge and the eternity of the world without reducing opponents to caricatures.
An original introduction. This guide accompanies the work; it is neither the complete text nor a translation.
Causation
Discussing a cause requires specifying what belongs to nature and to God. Composed around 1180, the polemical dialogue answers The Incoherence of the Philosophers and follows its earlier objections.
World
Its eternity requires distinguishing temporal beginning from dependence. Read each reply alongside al-Ghazali’s corresponding objection and identify the precise disagreement.
Controversy
Averroes defends philosophical arguments while acknowledging difficult premises. Composed around 1180, the polemical dialogue answers The Incoherence of the Philosophers and follows its earlier objections.
Read each reply alongside al-Ghazali’s corresponding objection and identify the precise disagreement.
Your turn to think.
- What argument supports your interpretation?
- How does the text’s transmission change your reading?
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