Instruct: Given a question, retrieve passages that can help answer the question.
Query: When was Avempace born?
Avempace (c.1085– 1138) is the Latinate form of Ibn Bâjja (Arabic: ابن باجة‎), full name Abû Bakr Muḥammad Ibn Yaḥyà ibn aṣ-Ṣâ’igh at-Tûjîbî Ibn Bâjja al-Tujibi (أبو بكر محمد بن يحيى بن الصائغ التجيبي بن باجة ), was an Arab[1] Andalusian polymath: his writings include works regarding astronomy, physics, and music, as well as philosophy, medicine, botany, and poetry.[2]
Averroes was another important philosopher, and while he was born shortly before Avempace's death, Averroes later in life would be in opposition to Avempace's theories the majority of the time.[17] Avempace starts with a good kinematic definition of motion and construes it as a force. According to Avempace regarding freely falling objects, what is moved the a heavy body falls, is the heavy body and what moves it downward is its 'gravity' or its 'form' or 'nature'.[17]
Avempace also describes four types of Intelligible forms. They are described as bodies that have an eternal circular motion, an acquired intellect, those with external senses, and those with internal senses.[18] These ideas are consistent with Aristotle's descriptions of the soul and its properties in his treatise De Anima, though there is speculation that there were no Arabic transcriptions available to Avempace.[11]
In addition, Avempace had changed forgotten non-syllogistic arts into “practical arts”, and wrote:
In relation to the example of the stone falling through the mediums air and water, Avempace also brings up an example of dust particles to explain his ideas on natural movements. Dust particles are suspended in the air and naturally fall slowly. Despite having enough power to go down, it is still insufficient to displace the air underneath it[13] From Text 71; Ernest A. Moody who is a notable philosopher, medievalist, and logician, offered four main reasons in favor of the view that Avempace was at least a major thinker within the paradigm of the "Theory of an 'impressed force' ".[6] The following points are cited from his argument:
1. "For Avempace...V = P - M, so that when M = 0, V = P. This opposes Aristotle's (supposed use of) V = P / M." [6]
Marcinkowski, M. Ismail (April 2002), "A Biographical Note on Ibn Bajjah (Avempace) and an English Translation of his Annotations to al-Farabi's Isagoge", in Iqbal Review (Lahore, Pakistan), vol. 43, no. 2, pp.83–99. The Diwan Attributed to Ibn Bajjah (Avempace), D. M. Dunlop, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 14, No. 3, Studies Presented to Vladimir Minorsky by His Colleagues and Friends (1952), pp.463–477
Avempace is known to have made contributions to the field of botany in addition to philosophy and the physical sciences. His work titled Kitab al-nabat (The Book of Plants) is a commentary influenced by the work De Plantis[34]. In this commentary, Avempace discusses the morphology of various plants and attempts to classify them based on their similarities. He also writes about the reproductive nature of plants and their supposed genders based on his observations of palm and fig trees.[3] Kitab al-nabat was written in Arabic and has most recently been translated into Spanish.[11]
Avempace was born in Zaragoza, in what is today Aragon, Spain, around 1085[8] and died in Fes, Morocco, in 1138. Rulers of Zaragoza shifted constantly throughout Avempace's young life, but in 1114, a new Almoravid governor of Zaragoza was appointed: Abu Bakr 'Ali ibn Ibrahim as-Sahrawi, also known as Ibn Tifilwit. The close relationship between Avempace and Ibn Tifilwit is verified in writings by both Ibn al-Khatib and Ibn Khaqan.[9] Avempace enjoyed music and wine with the governor and also composed panegyrics and muwashshahat to publicly praise Ibn Tifilwit, who rewarded him by nominating him as his vizier.[10] In a diplomatic mission to meet the overthrown Imad ad-Dawla Ibn Hud King in his castle, Avempace was placed in jail for some months for reasons unknown. Ibn Tifilwit was also killed during a quest against the Christians in 1116, ending his short reign and inspiring Avempace to compose mournful elegies in his honor.[10] Avempace also had a talent for singing and composition in music. In the beginning of his career, he wrote the manuscript Risālah fī l-alḥān (Tract on melodies) and incorporated his commentary on al-Fārābī’s treatise based on music. He determined the correlations between different melodies and temperament. According to biographer al-Maqqarī, Avempace's passion for music was due to poetry and had “the virtue of dispelling the sadness and pain of the hearts [sic].” He included his scientific knowledge and wit in many poems.[11] Avempace joined in poetic competitions with the poet al-Tutili.
Avempace was a critic of Ptolemy and he worked on creating a new theory of velocity to replace the one theorized by Aristotle. Two future philosophers supported the theories Avempace created, known as the Avempacean dynamics. These philosophers were Thomas Aquinas, a catholic priest, and John Duns Scotus.[16] Galileo went on and adopted Avempace's formula and talked about "that the velocity of a given object is the difference of the motive power of that object and the resistance of the medium of motion" in the Pisan dialogue.[16]
Avempace worked under the mathematician Ibn al-Sayyid. He was given the privileged to add a commentary to Ibn al-Sayyid's work on geometry and Euclid's Elements. Furthermore, he viewed astronomy as part of mathematics. Avempace's model of the cosmos consists of concentric circles, but no epicycles.[20]
These works are tough to understand. Nevertheless, Risālat al-ittiṣāl has interpreted the introduction. The treatise stated the overall point of Avempace's thinking:
This shows as human involvement is design. Absolute necessity reigns over the heavens. Avempace views necessity into three kinds: absolute, design, and material. Avempace demonstrates the moon eclipses using absolute necessity over time. Based on the relations of the moon eclipses, Avempace indicates “possibility shares necessity”.[20] He defines the body as an artificial collection of matter, which acts as an instrument for the soul to work through. In doing so, he establishes the soul as an autonomous subject. Avempace believes that the human soul has three stages. It starts in the plant stage, then to the animal stage, and finally to human stage. Each stage has an important attribute that the soul grows from. The plant life is where the soul is provided with nourishment and growth. In the animal stage, the soul is introduced to sensations. When the soul moves to the human state, the soul gains common sense, imagination, and memory.[18] Additionally, Avempace writes that the soul is geometrically formless. Because its form is beyond our understanding of geometric shapes, he states, it exists on a plane higher than that which we perceive with our bodies.[11] Avempace is said to have been influenced by Platonic and Aristotelian views on the subject. He credits Plato with the theory of the soul as a substance:
Despite all the ideas that have been presented by Avempace, a central theory was never actually developed. He attributed this to being a very busy man and having his hands in a variety of a fields.[13]
The renowned polymath and Jewish philosopher, Maimonides, was possibly born in the same year of Avempace's death, yet he preserved and studied the works of the deceased Andalusian. Maimonides admired Avempace for his achievements, stating that "[Ibn Bajja] was a great and wise philosopher, and all of his works are right and correct". Maimonides also valued Ibn Bajja's commentary on Aristotle's works on astronomy.[24] In one of his three major works, The Guide for the Perplexed, Maimonides assesses Hebrew Bible theology with Aristotelian philosophy, directly drawing influence from Ibn Bajja philosophical and scientific ideas. Specifically incorporating Avempace's philosophies regarding the existence of a single intellect after death, the union of man with the Active Intellect, the division of man into three classes of increasing consciousness, and the proposal of the prophet as an ideal solitary man.[25][26]
He wrote nine medical treatises. Galen inscribed commentary on Hippocrates’ Aphorisms in “Commentary on Aphorisms” that includes Avempace’s view about medicine. Medical syllogisms are revolved by means of experience. Experience is obtained in a person’s life time through perception. Avempace defines experience:
However, the most important idea from Avempace's system was not mentioned in the treatise, "how the union of the active intellect with man occurs, which is the ultimate goal being pursued by the solitary."[19]
Despite diverging from Aristotle's theory of motion, it appears that Avempace largely agrees with Aristotle's ideas on projectile motion. While there is no known account that lay's out Avempace's ideas over this topic, Avempace gives a short explanation in his commentary of Aristotelian Physics book 8. An interesting piece by Avempace on the theory of projectile motion comes from his example involving a magnet and iron filaments. Magnets present a problem with Aristotle's theory on projectile motion because nothing can be seen physically moving the iron. Avempace, however, believes that a magnet is more complicated than one might think. He presents the idea that the magnet actually moves the air which, in return, moves the iron.[6]
Avempace considers experience as the second essential part of medicine. Avempace’s theoretic system sketched out all reality. Reality comes in many forms that includes motion and action. Avempace categorizes them between natural and artificial. Natural reality forms move bodies with power while bodies within artificial reality forms are unintentionally moved. It also show how the body is viewed.
Avempace was, in his time, not only a prominent figure of philosophy but also of music and poetry.[4] His diwan (Arabic: collection of poetry) was rediscovered in 1951.
Avempace's work in botany is evident in his political works.
In Islamic astronomy, Maimonides wrote the following on the planetary model proposed by Avempace:
Avempace rejects that feeling ultimate pleasure comes from witnessing the divine world internally.[18] For Avempace, the highest form of spiritual happiness comes from science and the truth. Science allows for the truth to be discovered. As a result, in order to be spiritually healthy and, therefore, happy, we must obtain knowledge and search for the truth.[13]
Avempace's book Kitāb al-Tajribatayn ‘alā Adwiyah Ibn Wāfid (Book of Experiences on Drugs of Ibn Wafid) is an attempt to classify plants from a pharmacological perspective. It is based the work of Ibn al-Wafid, a physician and Avempace's predecessor, and is said to have influenced the later work of Ibn al-Baitar, a prominent Arab pharmacologist and botanist.[3]
Averroes writes the following comments on Avempace's theory of motion: