In the wikipedia article for Ibn Rush, it states in the second paragraph that he has been described as the "founding father of secular thought in Western Europe". Is this statement true? To what extent is it true? What are some ways in which he has affected the development of secular thought in Western Europe (and perhaps the world in general)?
Thanks!
"Secular thought" is a tough thing to quantify here. Lots of people tend to look at him as secular simply because he opposed the orthodox Ash'ari ideas of Imam al-Ghazali, but he was by no means secular in the modern European sense. His greatest work was "The Distinguished Jurists Primer" a comparison study of the four schools of Islamic law. Hardly secular.
Blurgh. Yuck. No.
The only way to get there is via laser-like focus only on his valorization of rational thought and philosophy (which is true). But Averroes/Ibn Rushd was very much committed to shari'a and Islam.
Edit: May be time to go edit Wikipedia...