SOURCE: Lerner, Ralph. Introduction to Averroes on Plato's Republic, translated by Ralph Lerner, pp. xiii-xxviii. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1974.

In the following introduction to the medieval Arabic philosopher Averroes's commentary on Plato's Republic, Lerner discusses Averroes's approach to the text, noting that despite the differences in their religious backgrounds, Averroes exhibits a deep appreciation for Plato's philosophy.

Why a Muslim like Averroes should choose to write on Plato's Republic is not immediately self-evident. Of what use is this pagan closet philosophy to men who already hold what they believe to be the inestimable gift of a divinely revealed Law, a sharī'a? Can that Law, which presents itself as complete and sufficient and which addresses all men, the Red and the Black, be in need of supplement or correction? Further, what has the “lawyer, imām, judge, and unique scholar” (as Averroes chooses to describe himself...