Warrior Women in Ibn Rushd’s Commentary on Plato’s Republic: Mythico-Barbarian Geography in the Case for Female Guardians, an Unsolved Passage, 2022
By: Tineke Melkebeek
Title Warrior Women in Ibn Rushd’s Commentary on Plato’s Republic: Mythico-Barbarian Geography in the Case for Female Guardians, an Unsolved Passage
Type Article
Language English
Date 2022
Journal Al Masaq: Islam and the Medieval Mediterranean
Volume 34
Issue 3
Pages 314-335
Categories Commentary, Plato, Politics
Author(s) Tineke Melkebeek
Publisher(s)
Translator(s)
In his commentary on Plato’s Republic, Ibn Rushd (Averroes) discusses the case for female guardians. Besides following Socrates’s argument for female warriors, which cites the efficiency of female guard dogs, Ibn Rushd introduces an additional argument: that the female capacity for warfare is evident from the inhabitants of certain regions. Unfortunately, the precise formulation of the regions or groups he intends to mention is obscure in the existing manuscripts. Rosenthal translates “the inhabitants of deserts and frontier villages”, Lerner’s translation says “the inhabitants of deserts and the City of Women”. This article aims to analyse these and other translations of this enigmatic passage, which has not yet been the subject of study. Concerning the second region mentioned, it seems that Ibn Rushd could be indicating Northern Spain, but he might also have been alluding to the legendary places at the coldest margins of the then-known world.

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The medieval Islamic commentary on Plato’s republic: Ibn Rushd’s perspective on the position and potential of women, 2021
By: Tineke Melkebeek
Title The medieval Islamic commentary on Plato’s republic: Ibn Rushd’s perspective on the position and potential of women
Type Article
Language English
Date 2021
Journal Islamology
Volume 11
Issue 1
Pages 9-23
Categories Commentary, Plato, Politics, Tradition and Reception
Author(s) Tineke Melkebeek
Publisher(s)
Translator(s)
This paper investigates the twelfth-century commentary on Plato’s Republic by the Andalusian Muslim philosopher Ibn Rushd (Averroes). Ibn Rushd is considered to be the only Muslim philosopher who commented on the Republic. Written around 375 BC, Plato’s Republic discusses the order and character of a just city-state and contains revolutionary ideas on the position and qualities of women, which remained contested also in Ibn Rushd’s time. This Muslim philosopher is primarily known as the most esteemed commentator of Aristotle. However, for the lack of an Arabic translation of Aristotle’s Politics, Ibn Rushd commented on the political theory of Aristotle’s teacher, i.e. Plato’s Republic, instead. In his commentary, Ibn Rushd juxtaposes examples from Plato’s context and those from contemporary Muslim societies. Notably, when he diverges from the text, he does not drift off toward more patriarchal, Aristotelian interpretations. On the contrary, he argues that women are capable of being rulers and philosophers, that their true competencies remain unknown as long as they are deprived of education, and that this situation is detrimental to the flourishing of the city. This article aims to critically analyse Ibn Rushd’s statements on the position of women, as well as their reception in scholarly literature.

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The Contention between Secular and Revealed Law: Analyzing Ibn Rushd’s Solution to the Problem of the “Virtuous Society”, 2019
By: Jaan S. Islam
Title The Contention between Secular and Revealed Law: Analyzing Ibn Rushd’s Solution to the Problem of the “Virtuous Society”
Type Article
Language English
Date 2019
Journal Journal of Islamic and Muslim Studies
Volume 4
Issue 1
Pages 43–65
Categories Politics, Law, Commentary, Plato
Author(s) Jaan S. Islam
Publisher(s)
Translator(s)
This article is an analysis of the political thought of Ibn Rushd and its significance for the current conflict in Islamic political thought between liberal, secular and conservative Islamist thinkers over the meaning of the “virtuous society” and how it can be implemented. It is argued that the thought of Ibn Rushd offers a concept of the virtuous society that reconciles secular law and religious Sharī‘a law. The article analyzes Ibn Rushd’s Commentary on Plato’s Republic, and assesses it as potentially being able to reconcile the philosophical conflict between logically discerned law and revealed law. It is contended that the separation between “religious” and “political” (i.e., philosophical) domains often attributed to Ibn Rushd does not fully consider the entirety of Ibn Rushd’s writings and interprets his works without regard for their historical and religious contextual significance.

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Wisdom and Power in Averroes’ Commentary on Plato’s Republic, 2015
By: Christopher Colmo
Title Wisdom and Power in Averroes’ Commentary on Plato’s Republic
Type Article
Language English
Date 2015
Journal The Maghreb Review
Volume 40
Issue 3
Pages 308–318
Categories Commentary, Plato, Politics
Author(s) Christopher Colmo
Publisher(s)
Translator(s)

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Three commentaries of Averroes, 1959
By: Nicholas Rescher
Title Three commentaries of Averroes
Type Article
Language English
Date 1959
Journal The Review of Metaphysics
Volume 12
Issue 3
Pages 440-448
Categories Commentary, Natural Philosophy, Plato, Politics, al-Ġazālī, Relation between Philosophy and Theology
Author(s) Nicholas Rescher
Publisher(s)
Translator(s)

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Der Kommentar des Averroes zur Politeia Platons, 1958
By: Erwin Rosenthal
Title Der Kommentar des Averroes zur Politeia Platons
Type Article
Language German
Date 1958
Journal Zeitschrift für Politik, NEUE FOLGE
Volume 5
Issue 1
Pages 38-51
Categories Commentary, Politics, Plato
Author(s) Erwin Rosenthal
Publisher(s)
Translator(s)

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Der Kommentar des Averroes zur Politeia Platons, 1958
By: Erwin Rosenthal
Title Der Kommentar des Averroes zur Politeia Platons
Type Article
Language German
Date 1958
Journal Zeitschrift für Politik, NEUE FOLGE
Volume 5
Issue 1
Pages 38-51
Categories Commentary, Politics, Plato
Author(s) Erwin Rosenthal
Publisher(s)
Translator(s)

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The Contention between Secular and Revealed Law: Analyzing Ibn Rushd’s Solution to the Problem of the “Virtuous Society”, 2019
By: Jaan S. Islam
Title The Contention between Secular and Revealed Law: Analyzing Ibn Rushd’s Solution to the Problem of the “Virtuous Society”
Type Article
Language English
Date 2019
Journal Journal of Islamic and Muslim Studies
Volume 4
Issue 1
Pages 43–65
Categories Politics, Law, Commentary, Plato
Author(s) Jaan S. Islam
Publisher(s)
Translator(s)
This article is an analysis of the political thought of Ibn Rushd and its significance for the current conflict in Islamic political thought between liberal, secular and conservative Islamist thinkers over the meaning of the “virtuous society” and how it can be implemented. It is argued that the thought of Ibn Rushd offers a concept of the virtuous society that reconciles secular law and religious Sharī‘a law. The article analyzes Ibn Rushd’s Commentary on Plato’s Republic, and assesses it as potentially being able to reconcile the philosophical conflict between logically discerned law and revealed law. It is contended that the separation between “religious” and “political” (i.e., philosophical) domains often attributed to Ibn Rushd does not fully consider the entirety of Ibn Rushd’s writings and interprets his works without regard for their historical and religious contextual significance.

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The medieval Islamic commentary on Plato’s republic: Ibn Rushd’s perspective on the position and potential of women, 2021
By: Tineke Melkebeek
Title The medieval Islamic commentary on Plato’s republic: Ibn Rushd’s perspective on the position and potential of women
Type Article
Language English
Date 2021
Journal Islamology
Volume 11
Issue 1
Pages 9-23
Categories Commentary, Plato, Politics, Tradition and Reception
Author(s) Tineke Melkebeek
Publisher(s)
Translator(s)
This paper investigates the twelfth-century commentary on Plato’s Republic by the Andalusian Muslim philosopher Ibn Rushd (Averroes). Ibn Rushd is considered to be the only Muslim philosopher who commented on the Republic. Written around 375 BC, Plato’s Republic discusses the order and character of a just city-state and contains revolutionary ideas on the position and qualities of women, which remained contested also in Ibn Rushd’s time. This Muslim philosopher is primarily known as the most esteemed commentator of Aristotle. However, for the lack of an Arabic translation of Aristotle’s Politics, Ibn Rushd commented on the political theory of Aristotle’s teacher, i.e. Plato’s Republic, instead. In his commentary, Ibn Rushd juxtaposes examples from Plato’s context and those from contemporary Muslim societies. Notably, when he diverges from the text, he does not drift off toward more patriarchal, Aristotelian interpretations. On the contrary, he argues that women are capable of being rulers and philosophers, that their true competencies remain unknown as long as they are deprived of education, and that this situation is detrimental to the flourishing of the city. This article aims to critically analyse Ibn Rushd’s statements on the position of women, as well as their reception in scholarly literature.

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Three commentaries of Averroes, 1959
By: Nicholas Rescher
Title Three commentaries of Averroes
Type Article
Language English
Date 1959
Journal The Review of Metaphysics
Volume 12
Issue 3
Pages 440-448
Categories Commentary, Natural Philosophy, Plato, Politics, al-Ġazālī, Relation between Philosophy and Theology
Author(s) Nicholas Rescher
Publisher(s)
Translator(s)

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Warrior Women in Ibn Rushd’s Commentary on Plato’s Republic: Mythico-Barbarian Geography in the Case for Female Guardians, an Unsolved Passage, 2022
By: Tineke Melkebeek
Title Warrior Women in Ibn Rushd’s Commentary on Plato’s Republic: Mythico-Barbarian Geography in the Case for Female Guardians, an Unsolved Passage
Type Article
Language English
Date 2022
Journal Al Masaq: Islam and the Medieval Mediterranean
Volume 34
Issue 3
Pages 314-335
Categories Commentary, Plato, Politics
Author(s) Tineke Melkebeek
Publisher(s)
Translator(s)
In his commentary on Plato’s Republic, Ibn Rushd (Averroes) discusses the case for female guardians. Besides following Socrates’s argument for female warriors, which cites the efficiency of female guard dogs, Ibn Rushd introduces an additional argument: that the female capacity for warfare is evident from the inhabitants of certain regions. Unfortunately, the precise formulation of the regions or groups he intends to mention is obscure in the existing manuscripts. Rosenthal translates “the inhabitants of deserts and frontier villages”, Lerner’s translation says “the inhabitants of deserts and the City of Women”. This article aims to analyse these and other translations of this enigmatic passage, which has not yet been the subject of study. Concerning the second region mentioned, it seems that Ibn Rushd could be indicating Northern Spain, but he might also have been alluding to the legendary places at the coldest margins of the then-known world.

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Wisdom and Power in Averroes’ Commentary on Plato’s Republic, 2015
By: Christopher Colmo
Title Wisdom and Power in Averroes’ Commentary on Plato’s Republic
Type Article
Language English
Date 2015
Journal The Maghreb Review
Volume 40
Issue 3
Pages 308–318
Categories Commentary, Plato, Politics
Author(s) Christopher Colmo
Publisher(s)
Translator(s)

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