Podcast Summary

Podcast: New Books Network
Host: Rabbi Mark Katz
Guest: Professor Yehuda Halper
Episode: Averroes on Pathways to Divine Knowledge (Academic Studies Press, 2025)
Date: November 19, 2025

Overview: Main Theme and Purpose

This episode centers on Professor Yehuda Halper’s new book, Averroes on Pathways to Divine Knowledge, exploring the major works and intellectual legacy of Averroes (Ibn Rushd), the 12th-century Andalusian philosopher. Halper and host Rabbi Mark Katz discuss Averroes’s endeavors as a commentator on Aristotle, the distinct pathways to divine knowledge (demonstrative, dialectical, rhetorical), and Averroes’s influence on both Islamic and Jewish philosophical traditions. The conversation delves into the purpose and audiences of Averroes's multiple commentaries, the translation and adaptation of philosophical themes across linguistic and cultural settings, and the ongoing relevance of dialectic in philosophical inquiry.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Yehuda Halper’s Intellectual Journey

• Halper was drawn to the interplay between Greek philosophy and Jewish thought after studying math and classics at the University of Chicago and moving to Israel.
• His work is deeply influenced by the transmission of Aristotelian philosophy through Arabic into Hebrew, with Averroes serving as a critical intermediary. (02:18)

2. Biography and Historical Context of Averroes

• Averroes: 12th-century philosopher living in Cordoba during the Almohad regime—an era notable for religious and intellectual upheaval. (03:18)

• Many notable Jewish philosophers (including Maimonides) left southern Spain due to these socio-political changes.

• Averroes sought to create a philosophical doctrine compatible with the regime, ultimately failing in political terms—his works were banned and burned locally.

• Despite this, his writings were translated into Hebrew and Latin, influencing both Jewish and Christian scholarly traditions:

  "Both Jews and Christians ended up studying Averroes... as part of their curriculum, and that became sort of the basis of Western education."
  (05:46, Yehuda Halper)

3. The Political and Philosophical Underpinnings of Averroes’s Thought

• Threefold Division of Humanity: In The Decisive Treatise (Fasl al-Maqal), Averroes divides society into three types based on epistemic capacity:

  • Rhetorical thinkers: Accept knowledge by persuasion/authority.
  • Dialectical thinkers: Use reasoning but lack full certainty.
  • Demonstrative thinkers: True scientists/philosophers, capable of rigorous proof (demonstration).

• Halper highlights the political significance: preserving philosophical/scientific reasoning separate from popular and religious interpretations, foundational for later liberal thought.

  “There’s a political importance of preserving the scientists as a kind of independent class... the notion of independent human thought and why that should be separate from politics, but also why it should be separate from religious thought.”
  (08:37, Yehuda Halper)

4. Dialectic vs. Demonstrative Reasoning

• Demonstrative reasoning, idealized as certain and scientific, is rarely achievable; most philosophers operate dialectically—dealing with contradictions, adversarial exchanges, and arguments less than certain.

• Many of the deepest questions (metaphysics, about God, existence itself) can't be settled demonstratively and require dialectical engagement:

  “To really get to the questions that are really most important as a human being is to go outside of [demonstrative methods].”
  (11:52, Yehuda Halper)

• The book’s title, Pathways to Divine Knowledge, reflects the multiplicity and complexity of these approaches.

5. Aristotle’s Authority in Averroes’s Era

• Aristotle was seen as the archetype of independent human reason—approaching divinity not as a monotheist but as the ultimate rationalist.

• The transmission of Aristotelian texts suffered from poor translation and textual difficulty, making commentaries especially necessary.

  “Understanding Aristotle is to understand the most that human reasoning on its own can get to ... but ... the texts ... are in bad shape ... by the time you get to Averroes.”
  (15:06, Yehuda Halper)

6. Averroes’s Three Commentaries on Aristotle

• Short Commentary: Earlier, more accessible, influenced by Avicenna, integrates Aristotle within broader religious traditions.

• Middle Commentary: Attempts to restate and clarify Aristotle’s difficult text, inventing a coherent Aristotelian system; widely used in both Jewish and Christian philosophical curricula.

• Long Commentary: Line-by-line exegesis on Aristotle’s text—demanding great patience, aimed at dedicated scholars.

  “The middle commentaries ... invent a kind of system about how to translate, how to be an Aristotelian ... The long commentaries ... try to explain [the text] line by line.”
  (17:22, Yehuda Halper)

• The differences between the commentaries reveal Averroes’s own evolving thought and the challenges of translating and interpreting Aristotle.

7. Intended Audiences of the Commentaries (20:26)

• Short Commentaries: For less advanced readers; practical summaries.
• Long Commentaries: For scholarly elites; require extraordinary patience.
• The commentaries presume different levels of reader engagement and expertise.

8. Transformation and Adaptation in Translation

• Halper notes how Averroes adapts Aristotle’s examples (e.g., changing idol-maker to ring-maker) for contemporary relevance and acceptability.

• Key philosophical terms (e.g., Arabic maʿnā/"meaning", Hebrew inyan) acquire technical senses that shift through transmission, often leading to interpretive challenges.

  “Some of these terms ... when they come in just in translation, they end up taking on a life of their own.”
  (24:00, Yehuda Halper)

9. Major Quote: The Reader’s Task and Dialectic Approach

• Halper’s book contends that Averroes provides a pathway—not an endpoint—to truth:

  “The reader of Averroes does not gain access to the truth newly discovered by an original thinker, but to a way of grappling with how to reach that truth.”
  (25:47, read by Katz)

  • Halper elaborates that metaphysical knowledge of God cannot be achieved purely by demonstration, demanding perpetual, dialectical striving—“beating around the bush.” (25:47–28:07)

10. Yearning and Eros: Philosophical and Mystical Parallels

• Halper explores the notion of philosophical yearning as reminiscent of Plato’s Eros—the soul’s desire for beauty, truth, the good—adopted by Aristotle as an analogy for the cosmos’ movement toward the divine.

• Averroes, as well as later Jewish philosophers and Kabbalists, envision the human intellect as an “erotic” seeker, never fully attaining but always reaching toward the divine—a theme resonant in mystical literature (e.g., the Zohar):

  “...the human being philosopher, as a yearner, as a desire, an erotic desire for the divine.”
  (32:03, Yehuda Halper)

11. Form and Methodology of Halper’s Book

• The book is a collection of essays, not a single unified treatise, reflecting both the complexity of Averroes’s thought and Halper’s evolving understanding over his 15-year research process.
• Each essay begins from a new vantage point, paralleling Averroes’s own multi-pronged attempts to approach the divine. (34:40–36:12)

12. Legacy of Averroes in Jewish Philosophy

• Averroes, though not Jewish, is a foundational figure in Jewish intellectual history; his works in Hebrew translation shaped medieval Jewish philosophy and science.
• Even when Jewish thinkers referred to “Aristotle”, the text they often cited was Averroes’s commentary.
• Halper emphasizes the centrality of Averroes for Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions alike. (38:15–40:14)

13. Future Research and Projects

• Halper is pursuing two projects:
  • Dialectic and Disputation: Exploring formal disputation in philosophical and Jewish texts.
  • Jewish Humor and Philosophy: Investigating why major philosophical figures were also humorists (specifically, why translators/commentators like Kalonymus ben Kalonymus wrote humorous works alongside dense philosophical treatises), bridging the worlds of seriousness and levity. (40:26–42:10)

Notable Quotes and Memorable Exchanges

• “There’s a political importance of preserving the scientists as a kind of independent class... the notion of independent human thought and why that should be separate from politics, but also why it should be separate from religious thought.”
  (08:37, Yehuda Halper)

• “To really get to the questions that are really most important as a human being is to go outside of [demonstrative methods].”
  (11:52, Yehuda Halper)

• “The reader of Averroes does not gain access to the truth newly discovered by an original thinker, but to a way of grappling with how to reach that truth.”
  (25:47, Yehuda Halper via Rabbi Mark Katz)

• “...the human being philosopher, as a yearner, as a desire, an erotic desire for the divine.”
  (32:03, Yehuda Halper)

• “Every time actually people say, oh, this is from Aristotle. Well, not every time, but almost every time they actually mean Averroes... the text that they have is actually a translation of Averroes.”
  (39:22, Yehuda Halper)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Halper’s background & path to Averroes: 02:18–03:09
• Averroes’s biography and historical context: 03:18–05:54
• Threefold epistemic model & its political significance: 06:22–09:03
• Dialectic versus demonstration: 09:35–13:10
• Aristotle’s image and transmission: 13:30–16:16
• The three commentaries and their differences: 16:16–18:40
• Audiences of the commentaries: 20:07–21:37
• Translation and adaptation in Averroes: 21:49–25:21
• Quote on ‘pathway’ and dialectic method: 25:47–28:07
• Eros/yearning for divine knowledge: 28:07–33:01
• Jewish/kabbalistic connections: 33:01–34:05
• Book’s structure & methodology: 34:40–36:12
• Averroes’s legacy in Jewish thought: 38:15–40:14
• Halper’s upcoming projects: 40:26–42:10

Conclusion

Halper’s Averroes on Pathways to Divine Knowledge offers a nuanced, multifaceted exploration of how Averroes grappled with the profound limits and possibilities of human understanding of the divine, revealing enduring intersections between philosophy, religion, and translation. The episode masterfully conveys Averroes’s significance across cultures while highlighting the ongoing journey—both for scholars and for philosophy itself—toward knowledge that ever recedes just out of reach.