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Averroes: The Conflict Between Religion And Philosophy

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Averroes: The Conflict Between Religion And Philosophy
One individual I found interesting was Averroes. For Averroes, there was no conflict between religion and philosophy. Instead, he believed that they were just different ways of reaching the same truth. He identified two kinds of knowledge of truth: knowledge of truth from religion (which was for the unlettered multitude, based on faith and untestable); and knowledge of truth from philosophy (the real truth, but reserved for an elite few with great intellect). He was even bold enough to claim the superiority of reason and philosophy over faith and faith based knowledge, and to emphasize the independent use of reason, and the belief that the philosophical and religious worlds are actually separate entities.

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