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== Work ==
== Work ==
his search for a truthful interpretation of Aristotle, Siger discovered inconsistencies between Aristotelian doctrine and orthodox Christian belief. This brought him into conflict with Thomas Aquinas, whose object was to reconcile Aristotle and the Church. Aquinas argued in ''On the Unicity of the Intellect'' that the Averroistic reading of Aristotle was altogether contrary (''repugnare omnino'') to their true meaning. Siger replied with his treatise ''On the Intellective Soul'', saying his intention was to determine what was said according to the texts of the philosophers, not what he thought on his own behalf. Historical truth should not be hidden, even if it contradicts the truth and wisdom which has been given to us by revelation. Aristotle is not the only authority in philosophy and is su bject, like all philosophers, to error (see Bazan 1980a, pp. 234-54).
Siger is sometimes credited with the 'double truth' doctrine. This has different versions. According to one verson, we can affirm contradictory propositions, first as a philosopher, then as a Christian. For example, I can hold as a philosopher that the world is eternal, but as a Christian that the world is created. According to another version, we can express what Aristotle taught, without expressing our own views.
Aquinas was suspicious of the second view, accusing its adherents of bad faith. 'Among those who labour in philosophy, some say things that are not true according to faith, and when told that what they say goes against faith, they answer that it is the Philosopher who says so; as to themselves they do not affirm it, they are only repeating the philosopher's words'. Quoted by Etienne Gilson, ''History of Philosophy in the Middle Ages'', New York 1955, p. 398.
== Influence ==
== Influence ==