The Incoherence of the Incoherence
The Incoherence of the Incoherence by Andalusian Muslim polymath and philosopher Ibn Rushd is an important [early Islamic philosophy|Islamic philosophical treatise] in which the author defends the use of Aristotelian philosophy within Islamic thought.
It was written in the style of a dialogue against al-Ghazali's claims in The Incoherence of the Philosophers, which criticized Neoplatonic thought.
Originally written in Arabic, The Incoherence of the Incoherence was subsequently translated into many other languages. The book is considered Ibn Rushd's landmark; in it, he tries to create harmony between faith and philosophy.
Background
In The Incoherence of the Philosophers, the Sufi-sympathetic imam al-Ghazali of the Ash'ari school of Islamic theology argued against Avicennism, denouncing philosophers such as Ibn Sina and al-Farabi. The text was dramatically successful, and marked a milestone in the ascendance of the Ash'ari within philosophy and theological discourse. It was preceded by a summary of Neoplatonism titled Maqasid al-Falasifah.Al-Ghazali stated that one must be well versed in the ideas of the philosophers before setting out to refute their ideas. Al-Ghazali also stated that he did not have any problem with other branches of philosophy such as physics, logic, astronomy or mathematics. His objection was with metaphysics, in which he claimed that the philosophers did not use the same tools, namely logic, which they used for other sciences.