The idea of a single, universal intellect associated with all human knowledge had been proposed by philosophers before Averroes.[1] The Greek philosopher Aristotle (384–322 BC) proposes a "maker intellect" which enables thinking by making things intelligible, much like light allows seeing by making things visible.[1] Plotinus (d. 270), whose works were well-known in the Islamic world, proposed that human beings gained knowledge through their relation to a divine intellect.[1] Muslim philosophers Al-Farabi (d. 951) and Avicenna (also known as Ibn Sina, d.