ابن رشدیان

On the eve of passing through the scholasticism, we encounter a period of transition called the Renaissance. Although less attention has been paid to this historical period in the philosophical life of the West, but the role of Muslim philosophers, especially Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and Ibn Rushd (Latinized Averroes), has played an important and influential role in the philosophical thought of this period. The influence of Muslim philosophers on the philosophical life of the West has been done through the translations and interpretations of philosophers and school teachers. As a result, misconceptions have sometimes occurred. An example of these misconceptions can clearly be found in the meanings of double reality. In this article, we analyze the meanings of double reality (doubling in action, cognition, discourse, fact in itself; thing in itself) and examine three Latin Ibn Rushdians who had a greater impact on the intellectual space of their time. Then we will examine the consequences of the Latin Ibn Rushdian on the eve of the Renaissance.

In the thirteenth century, along with the return of the European thinkers and philosophers to Aristotelian philosophy and the emergence of the contradiction between Aristotle's philosophy and Christian teachings and religious beliefs, the church put forward a theory known as dual reality. According to this theory everything that is true in theology, its opposite can also be true in philosophy. With this theory, the church accused the philosophers of heresy, while the followers of Averroes considered themselves free of this charge. In his book Faṣl al-maqāl, Averroes appeared to be in favor of the above mentioned theory in a different form. By a precise analysis of the theory through reviewing the now available sources and considering the events followed by attributing this view to the philosophers, one can infer different implications from the theory from the perspective of each of the three sides involved (i.e. Averroes, followers of Averroes and church) and the following division can be sketched: 1- ontological implications: that is to believe in the existence of two types of realities in the universe which can be described in two ways: A) two contradictory scopes in the universe B) two distinct scopes in the universe. 2- Epistemological implications of the dual reality: A) Two ways to reach one reality. B) Two dictions to narrate one reality. C) Duality of the reality in practice. D) Two levels of one single reality. By analyzing each of these implications of the dual reality, one can be led to some consequences according to which based on different works of Averroes; he cannot be accused of believing in a kind of duality which makes him deserve heresy.

In the years 1270 and 1277, some of the church authorities attributed a theory to Averroists (the Latin followers of Ibn Rushd) which we know as "Double Truth" theory nowadays. Church interpretation of the theory is this: Two contrary truths (one religious another philosophical) can be admitted simultaneously.Studying Averroes and Averroists's teachings, analyzing the very notion of duality of truth, and getting benefit from the works of those who studied the theory, we may distinguish seven meanings for "double truth" which can be categorized in four types: ontological, epistemological, linguistic, and pragmatic duality.