Ibn Tufayl
A person growing up alone on an island could reach the highest truths by reason alone – and would find them in harmony with revealed religion.
Placement
Andalusian physician and vizier: his philosophical novel “Hayy ibn Yaqzan” shows a man on a desert island reaching the truth by reason alone.
Key ideas
- Natural reason without tradition
- Harmony of philosophy and revelation
- Philosophical novel
Influence
Influenced by 3
Ibn Sina (Avicenna)
influenced by
Ibn Tufayl took the name Hayy ibn Yaqzan from Avicenna’s allegory and presented his tale as unveiling the ‘Oriental philosophy’ Avicenna had mentioned. Ibn Tufayl, Hayy ibn Yaqzan, introduction, tr. L. E. Goodman (1972); SEP “Ibn Tufayl”
Evidence: AI draft
Ibn Sina (Avicenna) › 980–1037
al-Ghazali
influenced by
In the introduction to Hayy ibn Yaqzan Ibn Tufayl cited al-Ghazali’s mystical experience as a model, while noting that his popular and esoteric works contradict each other. Ibn Tufayl, Hayy ibn Yaqzan, introduction, tr. L. E. Goodman (1972); SEP “Ibn Tufayl”
Evidence: AI draft
al-Ghazali › 1058–1111
Ibn Bajja (Avempace)
influenced by
In the introduction to Hayy ibn Yaqzan Ibn Tufayl praised Ibn Bajja’s mind but held that he reached rational knowledge, not mystical experience, and left his works unfinished. Ibn Tufayl, Hayy ibn Yaqzan, introduction, tr. L. E. Goodman (1972); SEP “Ibn Tufayl”
Evidence: AI draft
Ibn Bajja (Avempace) › c. 1085–1138
Influenced 1
Ibn Rushd (Averroes)
influenced ✓
According to Averroes’ own account, preserved by al-Marrakushi, Ibn Tufayl introduced him to the caliph Abu Yaqub Yusuf and prompted his commentaries on Aristotle. al-Marrakushi, al-Mujib (1224); L. E. Goodman, Ibn Tufayl’s Hayy Ibn Yaqzan (1972), introduction; SEP “Ibn Rushd [Averroes]”
Evidence: also in Wikidata · Wikidata
Ibn Rushd (Averroes) › 1126–1198
Works
- c. 1175Hayy ibn Yaqzan
A child raised by a gazelle on an island discovers nature, God and the soul by reason alone.
Position
Ibn Tufayl’s fame rests on one book, the philosophical novel Hayy ibn Yaqzan, “Alive, Son of Awake”. A child grows up alone on an island, nursed by a gazelle. When she dies, he dissects her body to find what has left it, and by observation and reflection rises step by step from nature to the soul, to a necessary Creator and finally to mystical vision. Later he meets Absal, who comes from a neighbouring island with a revealed religion, and they find that their truths agree. Yet their attempt to teach the people fails: most need symbols and laws. Translated into Latin in 1671, the book fascinated Enlightenment Europe.
Life & context
Abu Bakr ibn Tufayl was born in the early twelfth century near Granada, probably in Guadix. He worked as a physician and as secretary to governors in al-Andalus and became court physician to the Almohad caliph Abu Yaqub Yusuf in Marrakesh. There he introduced the young Averroes to the caliph and encouraged him to write commentaries on Aristotle. He died in Marrakesh in 1185.
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