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Life
The solitary philosopher. In a corrupt city, the thinker must withdraw and perfect himself alone.
He wrote the first philosophical novel. A child raised by a gazelle on a deserted island discovers God through reason alone.
Connection
Ibn Bajja influence Ibn Tufayl — Ibn Tufayl explicitly discussed Ibn Bajja's ideas in the introduction to Hayy ibn Yaqzan.
Ideas
Words
“In imperfect cities the happy are like weeds: they grow by their own order among plants tended by another.”
“The final happiness of man is the conjunction of his intellect with the Active Intellect.”
“He saw that the whole universe was, in truth, one great being.”
“He learned that naked truth is not for the many, whose safety lies in the plain sense of the law.”
Key Moments
c. 1085 CE
Born in Muslim Spain
c. 1106 CE
Teaching in Zaragoza
c. 1130 CE
Governance of the Solitary
1138 CE
Death in Fez
c. 1105 CE
Born in al-Andalus
c. 1163 CE
Court Physician in Marrakesh
c. 1169 CE
Introducing Ibn Rushd to the Caliph
c. 1170 CE
Hayy ibn Yaqzan
Works
The Governance of the Solitary
Hayy ibn Yaqzan