Averroes on Plato's Republic - (Agora Editions) Annotated (Paperback)

About the Book

An indispensable primary source in medieval political philosophy is presented here in a fully annotated translation of the celebrated discussion of the Republic by the twelfth-century Andalusian Muslim philosopher.

Book Synopsis

"In one fashion or another, the question with which this introduction begins is a question for every serious reader of Plato's Republic: Of what use is this philosophy to me? Averroes clearly finds that the Republic speaks to his own time and to his own situation.... Perhaps the greatest use he makes of the Republic is to understand better the shari'a itself.... It is fair to say that in deciding to paraphrase the Republic, Averroes is asserting that his world--the world defined and governed by the Koran--can profit from Plato's instruction."--from Ralph Lerner's IntroductionAn indispensable primary source in medieval political philosophy is presented here in a fully annotated translation of the celebrated discussion of the Republic by the twelfth-century Andalusian Muslim philosopher, Abu'l-Walid Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Ibn Rushd, also know by his his Latinized name, Averroes. This work played a major role in both the transmission and the adaptation of the Platonic tradition in the West. In a closely argued critical introduction, Ralph Lerner addresses several of the most important problems raised by the work.

Review Quotes

Because of the importance of Averroes (as a Muslim he is significant for both Platonic and Islamic thought), it is good to have Lerner's new and thoughtful interpretation, with lucid introduction, three helpful appendixes, glossary, and index.

-- "Library Journal"

It is interesting to note that Plato's tenets were considered profitable also by Averroes, whose world was defined and governed by the Koran.

-- "The Classical Outlook"

This is a fine translation of a very difficult and important text, lost in its Arabic original but preserved in the awkward fourteenth-century Hebrew translation of Judah ben Samuel. Even in this summary form, the Republic is one of the exceedingly few works of the Platonic corpus to surface in Islamic philosophy, and this paraphrase is an excellent example of Averroes' technique of doing philosophy in commentary form.

-- "Journal of Near Eastern Studies"

About the Author

Ralph Lerner is the Benjamin Franklin Professor Emeritus in the College, and Professor Emeritus in the Committee on Social Thought, at the University of Chicago. He is the author of several books, including Revolutions Revisited: Two Faces of the Politics of Enlightenment and Maimonides' Empire of Light: Popular Enlightenment in an Age of Belief.