Philosophy of Religion

Exposition of the Methods of Proof

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Averroes

c. 1179

The Exposition of the Methods of Proof Concerning the Beliefs of the Community — al-Kashf 'an Manahij al-Adilla — is Averroes's most systematic critique of the Ash'arite theology that dominated official Islamic thought. Where the Decisive Treatise addresses the legal permissibility of philosophy, the Exposition addresses the doctrinal content: it examines the proofs offered by the theologians for the existence of God, divine attributes, creation, and prophethood, and argues that these proofs fail by the standards of both religion and reason. Averroes proposes an alternative set of arguments drawn from Aristotelian philosophy — the argument from design (dalil al-'inaya) and the argument from providence — which he considers both religiously acceptable and philosophically sound. The work represents Averroes's attempt to reform Islamic theology by grounding it in genuine demonstrative argument rather than dialectical disputation.