Avempace

Avempace

Ibn Bajja (1095, Zaragoza – 1138, Fez) was an Andalusian Arab polymath, and among his writings were works on philosophy, medicine, botany and poetry as well as astronomy, physics and music. In the West he is also known as Avempace.

Life

Although Ibn Bajja's exact date of birth is not known, it is known that he was born in the city of Zaragoza (Saragossa) in al-Andalus. His real name was Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn al-Sa'igh. He died in Fez in 1138. Little is known about the early periods of his life, but his thought and scientific research are known thanks to the works he wrote in later periods.

A rationalist philosopher, Ibn Bajja was greatly influenced by al-Farabi, an important figure of the Peripatetic school. Besides philosophy, he was interested in astronomy, mathematics and music. In addition, he was one of the experts of his time in medicine. Because of various ideas in metaphysics and philosophy, he was accused of irreligion by some traditionalist religious authorities.

His Thought

Islamic Peripatetic philosophy (Mashsha'iyya), which migrated to the West because it did not adopt the ideas of al-Ghazali and Ash'arism, was carried on among the Andalusian Arabs especially by Ibn Bajja and his circle. Compared with other philosophers, he wrote very few works expounding his own thought. The majority of the works he wrote are commentaries on the systems of Western and Eastern philosophers before him. In particular he has many works of a commentary nature on the philosophical system of Aristotle.

In his thought Ibn Bajja characterized beings as numbers. Numbers, too, are divided into two: those that possess extension (dimension) and those that do not. In Ibn Bajja's thought, movements are also divided into two: the particular movements of living beings related to particular events (such as a person walking) and absolute movements (such as the rotation of the stars). According to Ibn Bajja, absolute movements are eternal (pre-eternal) and are divided into two: circular ones and straight ones.

Ibn Bajja's conception of God is a mystical (Sufi) view. Moreover, by maintaining that divine knowledge can be attained through the intellect, he opposed the thought of al-Ghazali. According to Ibn Bajja, the only means of acquiring knowledge is the intellect. Knowledge obtained through experiment has no value as knowledge. As can be understood from this, the philosopher attaches great importance to the intellect, and his philosophy has an extremely rationalist character.

Ibn Bajja's rationalist thought greatly influenced the two great Andalusian philosophers who came after him, Ibn Tufayl and Averroes.

His Political Philosophy

Ibn Bajja was also interested in political philosophy and gave political philosophy a place in his system. The utopia in his political thought is a community of the elite. In his utopian society every individual leads a healthy life and is bound to those around him by strong bonds of love. Starting from this point, Ibn Bajja stated that in this society he envisaged there would be no need for physicians or judges.

Some of his works

Kitab Ittisal al-Aql bi'l-Insan

Kitab Tadbir al-Mutawahhid

Kalam fi'l-Ghayat al-Insaniyya

Kalam fi'l-Ism wa'l-Musamma

Sources

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