Ibn Rushd (Averroes) · Philosophy

The Commentator: How a Córdoban Judge Became Aristotle’s Voice

The achievement that made Averroes immortal in Europe: his lifelong project of commenting on Aristotle, at three levels of depth, to recover the philosopher’s true meaning. This lesson asks how a Muslim judge in Spain became simply ‘the Commentator’ for medieval Christendom, and what disciplined commentary achieves as a form of philosophy.

What you'll be able to recall

You learned that Averroes was commissioned to clarify Aristotle, wrote three grades of commentary (short, middle, long), aimed to recover the authentic Aristotle from Neoplatonic corruption, and became known to medieval Europe simply as ‘the Commentator’ - his works surviving largely in Hebrew and Latin. E…

Leads to Aristotle.

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