An expert in medieval and Arab philosophy, who previously taught at the University of Córdoba, has published a work titled 'Introducción al pensamiento de Averroes' (Introduction to the Thought of Averroes). This book, published by Almuzara, explores the central ideas of a thinker whose influence spread across much of Europe.

The specialist emphasizes that Averroes represents the pinnacle of Arab philosophical thought, although paradoxically his work fell into oblivion in the Arab world until the 19th century. However, his fortune was very different in the Latin and European spheres, where his commentaries on the work of Aristotle were fundamental for its rescue and study.

The arrival of Aristotle's texts in Europe, partly thanks to translations from Arabic, marked a turning point in the 12th century. This contact with Arab knowledge, especially in the scientific field, led Europe to begin valuing reason as a path to truth, complementary to religious truth.

For Averroes, truth is unique and can be reached by two paths: faith and reason. Although he was a Muslim jurist from the most conservative tradition of Al-Andalus, he managed to reconcile his religiosity with his role as a philosopher. His defense of reason as the most human faculty and essential for individual development was one of his most significant contributions.

Despite the controversy surrounding his doctrines in Europe during the 13th century, particularly from Latin Averroists, and his eventual labeling as heterodox, figures like Thomas Aquinas used him as a model for their Aristotelian commentaries, even if they disagreed on specific points such as the immortality of the soul. It was not until the Enlightenment, with thinkers like Diderot, that he was fully recognized as a «hero of reason».