- Department of Jewish Thought
Bar Ilan University
Ramat Gan, Israel
Yehuda Halper
Bar-Ilan University, Jewish Philosophy, Faculty Member
- Bar-Ilan University, Jewish Thought, Faculty Memberadd
- Philosophy, Islamic Philosophy, Jewish Philosophy, Maimonides, Averroes, Jewish Studies, and 36 moreMetaphysics, Ancient Greek Philosophy, Aristotle, Judeo-Arabic, Arabic Philosophy, Hebrew, Averroism, Jewish historiography, Zionism (History), Dimitri Gutas, Intellectual History of the Renaissance, Sephardic Literature and Culture, Medieval Studies, Renaissance Philosophy, Hispano arabic Studies, Literatura Sefardí, Polemics and Apologetics, Abner of Burgos, History of Philosophy, Aristotle's Commentators, Philosophy Of Language, Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Psychology, Intentionality, Islamic Studies, Islamic Thought & Philosophy, Philosophy and Thought in Islamic Science, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Active Intellect, Maimonides, Averroes, Thomas Aquinas: God's Existence, Yirmiyahu Yovel, David Benatar, Ruah Hen, Rabbinic Literature, Hebrew Manuscripts, and Christian Mysticism(Metaphysics, Ancient Greek Philosophy, Aristotle, Judeo-Arabic, Arabic Philosophy, Hebrew, Averroism, Jewish historiography, Zionism (History), Dimitri Gutas, Intellectual History of the Renaissance, Sephardic Literature and Culture, Medieval Studies, Renaissance Philosophy, Hispano arabic Studies, Literatura Sefardí, Polemics and Apologetics, Abner of Burgos, History of Philosophy, Aristotle's Commentators, Philosophy Of Language, Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Psychology, Intentionality, Islamic Studies, Islamic Thought & Philosophy, Philosophy and Thought in Islamic Science, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Active Intellect, Maimonides, Averroes, Thomas Aquinas: God's Existence, Yirmiyahu Yovel, David Benatar, Ruah Hen, Rabbinic Literature, Hebrew Manuscripts, and Christian Mysticism)edit
Winner: Goldstein-Goren Book Award, 2022 Yehuda Halper examines Jewish depictions of Socrates and Socratic questioning of the divine among European and North African Jews of the 12th-15th centuries. Without direct access to Plato, their... more
Winner: Goldstein-Goren Book Award, 2022
Yehuda Halper examines Jewish depictions of Socrates and Socratic questioning of the divine among European and North African Jews of the 12th-15th centuries. Without direct access to Plato, their understanding of Socrates is indirect, based on legendary material, on fragmentary quotations from Plato, or on Aristotle. Out of these sources, Jewish authors of this period formed two distinct views of Socrates: one as a wise, ascetic, monotheist, and the other as a vocal skeptic. The latter view has its roots in Plato's Apology where Socrates describes his divine mandate to question all knowledge, including knowledge of the divine. After exploring how this and similar questions arise in the works of Judah Halevi and the Hebrew Averroes, Halper traces how such open questioning of the divine arises in the works of Maimonides, Jacob Anatoli, Gersonides, and Abraham Bibago.
Yehuda Halper examines Jewish depictions of Socrates and Socratic questioning of the divine among European and North African Jews of the 12th-15th centuries. Without direct access to Plato, their understanding of Socrates is indirect, based on legendary material, on fragmentary quotations from Plato, or on Aristotle. Out of these sources, Jewish authors of this period formed two distinct views of Socrates: one as a wise, ascetic, monotheist, and the other as a vocal skeptic. The latter view has its roots in Plato's Apology where Socrates describes his divine mandate to question all knowledge, including knowledge of the divine. After exploring how this and similar questions arise in the works of Judah Halevi and the Hebrew Averroes, Halper traces how such open questioning of the divine arises in the works of Maimonides, Jacob Anatoli, Gersonides, and Abraham Bibago.
Research Interests: Medieval Philosophy, Jewish Studies, Aristotle, Medieval Studies, History Of Platonic Tradition, and 15 moreSocrates, Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Plato and Platonism, Hebrew Manuscripts, Medieval Jewish History, Judaism, Platonism, Judeo-Arabic, Aristotle's Ethics, Maimonides, Medieval Arabic Philosophy, History of Medieval Philosophy, Plato's Apology of Socrates, and medieval islam and Judaism(Socrates, Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Plato and Platonism, Hebrew Manuscripts, Medieval Jewish History, Judaism, Platonism, Judeo-Arabic, Aristotle's Ethics, Maimonides, Medieval Arabic Philosophy, History of Medieval Philosophy, Plato's Apology of Socrates, and medieval islam and Judaism)
(Socrates, Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Plato and Platonism, Hebrew Manuscripts, Medieval Jewish History, Judaism, Platonism, Judeo-Arabic, Aristotle's Ethics, Maimonides, Medieval Arabic Philosophy, History of Medieval Philosophy, Plato's Apology of Socrates, and medieval islam and Judaism)
The Goldstein-Goren International Center for Jewish Thought is proud to announce the joint winners of the Triennial award for the best book in Jewish Thought for the years 2019-2021. From among over seventy books submitted for... more
The Goldstein-Goren International Center for Jewish Thought is proud to announce the joint winners of the Triennial award for the best book in Jewish Thought for the years 2019-2021.
From among over seventy books submitted for consideration. The winning submissions are:
Yehuda Halper, Jewish Socratic Questions in an Age without Plato: Permitting and Forbidding Open Inquiry in 12-15th Century Europe and North Africa. Brill (2021), 266 pp. (English)
and
Maoz Kahana, A Heartless Chicken: Religion and Science in Early Modern Rabbinic Culture. Bialik Institute (2021), 432 pp. (Hebrew)
From among over seventy books submitted for consideration. The winning submissions are:
Yehuda Halper, Jewish Socratic Questions in an Age without Plato: Permitting and Forbidding Open Inquiry in 12-15th Century Europe and North Africa. Brill (2021), 266 pp. (English)
and
Maoz Kahana, A Heartless Chicken: Religion and Science in Early Modern Rabbinic Culture. Bialik Institute (2021), 432 pp. (Hebrew)
Research Interests: Medieval Philosophy, Jewish Studies, Plato, Aristotle, History Of Platonic Tradition, and 15 moreIslamic Philosophy, Socrates, Jewish Thought, Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Plato and Platonism, Medieval Jewish History, Platonism, Renaissance Aristotelianism, Islamic Thought & Philosophy, Maimonides, Averroes, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Medieval Arabic Philosophy, and History of Medieval Philosophy(Islamic Philosophy, Socrates, Jewish Thought, Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Plato and Platonism, Medieval Jewish History, Platonism, Renaissance Aristotelianism, Islamic Thought & Philosophy, Maimonides, Averroes, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Medieval Arabic Philosophy, and History of Medieval Philosophy)
(Islamic Philosophy, Socrates, Jewish Thought, Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Plato and Platonism, Medieval Jewish History, Platonism, Renaissance Aristotelianism, Islamic Thought & Philosophy, Maimonides, Averroes, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Medieval Arabic Philosophy, and History of Medieval Philosophy)
Research Interests: Medieval Philosophy, Jewish Studies, Plato, Medieval Studies, Medieval Islam, and 11 moreSocrates, Jewish Thought, Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Plato and Platonism, Leo Strauss, Maimonides, Medieval Arabic Philosophy, Socratic dialogue, medieval islam and Judaism, and Muslim philosophy and thought
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Following the Arabic tradition, medieval Hebrew commentaries on Aristotle’s Topica and De Sophisitics Elenchis understood Zeno’s paradoxes of motion as dialectical fallacies related to widely-held opinions or incorrect inductive... more
Following the Arabic tradition, medieval Hebrew commentaries on Aristotle’s Topica and De Sophisitics Elenchis understood Zeno’s paradoxes of motion as dialectical fallacies related to widely-held opinions or incorrect inductive arguments. Following Al-Fārābī and Averroes, Hebrew Aristotelian commentators include discussions of Zeno’s paradoxes of motion in their commentaries on Topica and De Sophisitics Elenchis. Aristotle’s own discussions of Zeno’s paradoxes in those works, however, merely allude to the difficulties without presenting solutions. Indeed, they point elsewhere, most likely to the Physica where Aristotle provides a detailed account of those paradoxes and their solutions. The shift in emphasis in the discussions of Zeno’s paradoxes of motion as dialectical paradoxes in the Topica and De Sophisticis Elenchis in the works of Al-Fārābī and Averroes was likely due to the importance of those paradoxes for Kalām atomism. Hebrew commentators inherited this approach, even though they did not operate in the context of the Kalām.
Research Interests: Medieval Philosophy, Jewish Studies, Aristotle, Islamic Philosophy, Medieval Islam, and 13 moreAl Farabi, Jewish Thought, Aristotelian Logic, Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Aristotle's Commentators, Medieval Jewish History, Maimonides, Averroes, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Medieval Arabic Philosophy, Zeno of Elea, and Medieval Arabic Literature
Research Interests: Political Philosophy, Medieval Philosophy, Aristotle, Islamic Philosophy, Socrates, and 12 moreArabic Philosophy, Islamic Political Thought, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Social and Political Philosophy, Medieval Jewish History, Aristotle's Ethics, Aristotle's Rhetoric and Poetics, Medieval Political Thought, Averroes, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Medieval Arabic Philosophy, and Aristoteles
Averroes' "Epistle on Divine Knowledge" presents four different dialogues on two textual levels. These dialogues, the syllogistic structure of the arguments in them, and their use of contradictories indicate that the "Epistle on Divine... more
Averroes' "Epistle on Divine Knowledge" presents four different dialogues on two textual levels. These dialogues, the syllogistic structure of the arguments in them, and their use of contradictories indicate that the "Epistle on Divine Knowledge" is structured nearly entirely in accordance with the descriptions of dialectic we find in Averroes' commentaries on Aristotle's Topica. Accordingly, Averroes' solution to the question of how God can have universal knowledge of particular things is a dialectical account of the distinction between Divine and human knowledge. Moreover, at a crucial point in the "Epistle on Divine Knowledge" Averroes refers to Aristotle, Metaphysics Β, which he considers to a dialectical exposition of questions on metaphysics. This reference suggests that Averroes sees the "Epistle on Divine Knowledge" as a kind of dialectical inquiry aimed at answering questions that arise at the outset of studying metaphysics. So, while it is possible to view the "Epistle on Divine Knowledge" as a dialectical interpretation of Quran 67:14, its primary purpose is to introduce its readers to metaphysical speculation. Thus it does not violate Averroes' legal prohibition given in the Decisive Treatise against declaring dialectical interpretations in books available to the general public.
Research Interests: Medieval Philosophy, Medieval Studies, Islamic Philosophy, Medieval Islam, Islamic Studies, and 15 moreAl-Andalus, Arabic Philosophy, Islamic Political Thought, Dialectic, Aristotelian Logic, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Aristotle's Commentators, Aristotelianism, Medieval Hebrew Literature, Al Andalus (Islamic History), Andalusia/Al-Andalus, Averroes, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Medieval Arabic Philosophy, and Spanish Medieval and Golden Age Literature(Al-Andalus, Arabic Philosophy, Islamic Political Thought, Dialectic, Aristotelian Logic, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Aristotle's Commentators, Aristotelianism, Medieval Hebrew Literature, Al Andalus (Islamic History), Andalusia/Al-Andalus, Averroes, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Medieval Arabic Philosophy, and Spanish Medieval and Golden Age Literature)
(Al-Andalus, Arabic Philosophy, Islamic Political Thought, Dialectic, Aristotelian Logic, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Aristotle's Commentators, Aristotelianism, Medieval Hebrew Literature, Al Andalus (Islamic History), Andalusia/Al-Andalus, Averroes, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Medieval Arabic Philosophy, and Spanish Medieval and Golden Age Literature)
Research Interests: Political Philosophy, Medieval Philosophy, Plato, Islamic Philosophy, Medieval Islam, and 15 moreArabic Philosophy, Islamic Political Thought, Dialectic, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Plato and Platonism, Aristotle's Commentators, Averroism, Medieval Political Thought, Averroes, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Arabic Political Disourse Analysis, Medieval Arabic Philosophy, Political Thought, Plato's Republic, and medieval islam and Judaism(Arabic Philosophy, Islamic Political Thought, Dialectic, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Plato and Platonism, Aristotle's Commentators, Averroism, Medieval Political Thought, Averroes, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Arabic Political Disourse Analysis, Medieval Arabic Philosophy, Political Thought, Plato's Republic, and medieval islam and Judaism)
(Arabic Philosophy, Islamic Political Thought, Dialectic, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Plato and Platonism, Aristotle's Commentators, Averroism, Medieval Political Thought, Averroes, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Arabic Political Disourse Analysis, Medieval Arabic Philosophy, Political Thought, Plato's Republic, and medieval islam and Judaism)
Maimonides mentions experience only once in his Arabic Treatise on the Art of Logic, but he appears there to include the results of experience among premises that are certain. This view of experience does not fit the cautious attitude... more
Maimonides mentions experience only once in his Arabic Treatise on the Art of Logic, but he appears there to include the results of experience among premises that are certain. This view of experience does not fit the cautious attitude Maimonides takes toward experience in his medical writings. When the Treatise was translated into Hebrew, the translator used language that did not distinguish between truth and certainty, leaving the status of the results of experience unclear. Although later Hebrew translators used terminology clarifying that such results were certain, it was the first translation that became the most studied text and gave rise to a Hebrew commentary tradition. Four of these commentaries explained why the results of experience are true, or can be true, but they differed significantly in accounting for why they are true. This chapter traces how a single remark was read, translated, and interpreted. Its different readings and interpretations offer a glimpse into four hundred years of different views on how to incorporate experience into an Aristotelian syllogistic framework.
Research Interests: Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Biology, Translation Studies, History of Science, Translation theory, and 15 moreHistory of Philosophy of Science, History of Logic, Aristotelian Logic, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Aristotle's Commentators, Aristotelianism, Islamic Thought & Philosophy, Maimonides, Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations in the Middle Ages, Medieval Arabic Philosophy, Islamic Medicine, Medieval Medicine, History of Medicine in Medieval and Early Modern Europe, Aristoteles, and History of Science and Medicine In Medieval and Renaissance Europe(History of Philosophy of Science, History of Logic, Aristotelian Logic, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Aristotle's Commentators, Aristotelianism, Islamic Thought & Philosophy, Maimonides, Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations in the Middle Ages, Medieval Arabic Philosophy, Islamic Medicine, Medieval Medicine, History of Medicine in Medieval and Early Modern Europe, Aristoteles, and History of Science and Medicine In Medieval and Renaissance Europe)
(History of Philosophy of Science, History of Logic, Aristotelian Logic, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Aristotle's Commentators, Aristotelianism, Islamic Thought & Philosophy, Maimonides, Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations in the Middle Ages, Medieval Arabic Philosophy, Islamic Medicine, Medieval Medicine, History of Medicine in Medieval and Early Modern Europe, Aristoteles, and History of Science and Medicine In Medieval and Renaissance Europe)
Despite the title of this chapter, the philosophers in Hell and Heaven of Immanuel of Rome (c. 1260s-1330s) are not on the road to Hell, but firmly entrenched within its walls. Moreover, the road to Hell is not paved at all, but is an... more
Despite the title of this chapter, the philosophers in Hell and Heaven of Immanuel of Rome (c. 1260s-1330s) are not on the road to Hell, but firmly entrenched within its walls. Moreover, the road to Hell is not paved at all, but is an 'unpaved road'. 1 We shall address Hell's unpaved road later; the presence of the philosophers in Hell apparently suggests a negative view of philosophy-a warning to the living not to engage in such practices. Indeed, many in Immanuel's Hell are guilty of intellectual crimes, one of which is the failure to realize one's philosophic potential. Heaven, too, is filled with philosophers of sorts, including Maimonides (1138-1204), Judah Halevi (1075-1141), and Judah al-Ḥarizi (c. 1166-1225). Heaven also holds Immanuel's cousin, the esteemed commentator on Aristotle, Judah of Rome (c. 1292-after 1330). Immanuel, too, mentions his own philosophical interpretations of Scripture as the reason he will be granted a place in heaven. Moreover, we shall see that certain structural elements, indeed, those connected with the Ladder of Knowledge, grant Immanuel's Hell and Heaven a kind of philosophically derived organization. Immanuel not only suggests that there are philosophers in Heaven but also that not philosophizing can lead to damnation. Immanuel thus has conflicting recommendations as to whether a general reader should take up philosophy: he encourages the activity of philosophy, while in the same work condemning that very activity. What does he recommend in this high-stakes situation? Should the reader study philosophy or not? Should philosophy be sanctioned or condemned by the Jewish public?
Research Interests: Hebrew Literature, Medieval Philosophy, Jewish Studies, Dante Studies, Jewish Thought, and 15 moreDante, Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Italian Literature, Italian Renaissance literature, Aristotelianism, Medieval Hebrew Literature, Medieval Jewish History, Judaism, Dante Alighieri, Renaissance Aristotelianism, Filologia dantesca, Hebrew Poetry, Piyyutim, and medieval Hebrew poetry(Dante, Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Italian Literature, Italian Renaissance literature, Aristotelianism, Medieval Hebrew Literature, Medieval Jewish History, Judaism, Dante Alighieri, Renaissance Aristotelianism, Filologia dantesca, Hebrew Poetry, Piyyutim, and medieval Hebrew poetry)
(Dante, Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Italian Literature, Italian Renaissance literature, Aristotelianism, Medieval Hebrew Literature, Medieval Jewish History, Judaism, Dante Alighieri, Renaissance Aristotelianism, Filologia dantesca, Hebrew Poetry, Piyyutim, and medieval Hebrew poetry)
Shem Tov Falaquera’s Epistle of the Debate describes a debate between a Pietist who is knowledgeable only in Jewish law and religious texts and a Scholar who is well versed in both Jewish and philosophical works about whether according to... more
Shem Tov Falaquera’s Epistle of the Debate describes a debate between a Pietist who is knowledgeable only in Jewish law and religious texts and a Scholar who is well versed in both Jewish and philosophical works about whether according to Scripture studying philosophy is forbidden, permitted, or necessary for the perfection of human beings. I argue that to a large extent the form, style, and much of the content of the arguments in the debate are based on Al-Fārābī’s Book of Dialectic. Falaquera thus provides an example of a debate by the book (Al-Fārābī’s Dialectic), about the Book (Scripture), and in a book (The Epistle of the Debate). Moreover, by examining the arguments of the Epistle in light of Al-Fārābī’s Dialectic, we can see how dialectic can provide both training in adversarial debates and an introduction to philosophy and science.
Research Interests: Philosophy Of Religion, Aristotle, Medieval Islam, Al Farabi, Arabic Philosophy, and 15 moreDialectic, Aristotelian Logic, Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Aristotle's Commentators, Aristotelianism, Medieval Jewish History, Islamic Thought & Philosophy, Aristotle's Rhetoric and Poetics, Averroes, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations in the Middle Ages, Medieval Arabic Philosophy, Jewish-Christian Polemics, and medieval islam and Judaism(Dialectic, Aristotelian Logic, Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Aristotle's Commentators, Aristotelianism, Medieval Jewish History, Islamic Thought & Philosophy, Aristotle's Rhetoric and Poetics, Averroes, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations in the Middle Ages, Medieval Arabic Philosophy, Jewish-Christian Polemics, and medieval islam and Judaism)
(Dialectic, Aristotelian Logic, Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Aristotle's Commentators, Aristotelianism, Medieval Jewish History, Islamic Thought & Philosophy, Aristotle's Rhetoric and Poetics, Averroes, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations in the Middle Ages, Medieval Arabic Philosophy, Jewish-Christian Polemics, and medieval islam and Judaism)
Full version at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/theo.12303 Jacob Anatoli (c. 1181- c. 1247) would seem an unlikely skeptic. As the Hebrew translator responsible for bringing a complete program of Aristotelian logic to... more
Full version at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/theo.12303
Jacob Anatoli (c. 1181- c. 1247) would seem an unlikely skeptic. As the Hebrew translator responsible for bringing a complete program of Aristotelian logic to European Jewry, he is an unlikely skeptic of science. As author of one of the most influential medieval commentaries on the Bible, he is an unlikely skeptic of religious belief. Still, he presents arguments against the possibility of certain knowledge of both Aristotelian science and the tenets of belief. Yet, he does not recommend that thoughtful people reject science and uncritically adopt religious beliefs in the face of uncertainty. Nor does Anatoli recommend a suspension of judgment (epoche) that would allow for freedom from worry (ataraxia) or tranquility. Instead, he pushes constant dialogue, even debate between competing claims to knowledge. The life of the mind that Anatoli recommends, then, is a dialectical interrogation of science and religion that provides not freedom and tranquility, but intellectual disquiet and toil.
Jacob Anatoli (c. 1181- c. 1247) would seem an unlikely skeptic. As the Hebrew translator responsible for bringing a complete program of Aristotelian logic to European Jewry, he is an unlikely skeptic of science. As author of one of the most influential medieval commentaries on the Bible, he is an unlikely skeptic of religious belief. Still, he presents arguments against the possibility of certain knowledge of both Aristotelian science and the tenets of belief. Yet, he does not recommend that thoughtful people reject science and uncritically adopt religious beliefs in the face of uncertainty. Nor does Anatoli recommend a suspension of judgment (epoche) that would allow for freedom from worry (ataraxia) or tranquility. Instead, he pushes constant dialogue, even debate between competing claims to knowledge. The life of the mind that Anatoli recommends, then, is a dialectical interrogation of science and religion that provides not freedom and tranquility, but intellectual disquiet and toil.
Research Interests: Medieval Philosophy, Philosophy Of Religion, Jewish History, Medieval logic, Philosophy of Logic, and 15 moreDialectic, Jewish Thought, Aristotelian Logic, Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Aristotelianism, Skepticism, Averroes, Biblical Exegesis, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations in the Middle Ages, Medieval Arabic Philosophy, History of Medieval Philosophy, Emperor Frederick II, and History of Philosophy(Dialectic, Jewish Thought, Aristotelian Logic, Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Aristotelianism, Skepticism, Averroes, Biblical Exegesis, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations in the Middle Ages, Medieval Arabic Philosophy, History of Medieval Philosophy, Emperor Frederick II, and History of Philosophy)
(Dialectic, Jewish Thought, Aristotelian Logic, Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Aristotelianism, Skepticism, Averroes, Biblical Exegesis, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations in the Middle Ages, Medieval Arabic Philosophy, History of Medieval Philosophy, Emperor Frederick II, and History of Philosophy)
By an accident of transmission history, medieval and Renaissance Hebrew readers received the opening line of Metaphysics α ἔλαττον (considered in our editions to be Book II) as the opening line of the Metaphysics as a whole: 'Theorizing... more
By an accident of transmission history, medieval and Renaissance Hebrew readers received the opening line of Metaphysics α ἔλαττον (considered in our editions to be Book II) as the opening line of the Metaphysics as a whole: 'Theorizing about truth is in one sense difficult, in another sense easy.' This line took on its own iconic status as it was quoted, though more often referred to through literary allusion, in numerous Hebrew works. These include the Derašot of Nissim of Gerona, the opening of Joseph Albo’s Sefer ha-‘Iqarim, the Ḥešeq Šelomo of Yoḥanan Alemanno, and Don Isaac Abravanel’s Commentary on 1 Samuel 8. Additionally, the line is referred to in the Italian Dialoghi d’Amore of Judah Abravanel (Leone Ebreo) in a way that reflects previous uses. These authors refer to this line so that their readers will recall metaphysics and divine science in a general way, even though the texts themselves do not engage with Aristotle’s Metaphysics in significant detail. Such literary references to the Metaphysics highlight the preference of these thinkers to shy away from Aristotelian metaphysics and a theology based upon it.
Du fait des aléas de sa transmission, au Moyen Âge et à la Renaissance les lecteurs juifs prenaient la première ligne de la Métaphysique α ἔλαττον (qui correspond aujourd’hui au Livre II) pour la première ligne de la Métaphysique tout entière: «L’étude de la vérité est difficile en un sens et facile en un autre sens». Cette phrase s’est imposée comme un topos, cité comme tel dans de nombreuses œuvres en hébreu, et plus souvent encore sous des formes allusives. C’est notamment le cas des Derašot de Nissim de Gérone, du début du Sefer ha-‘Iqarim de Joseph Albo, du Ḥešeq Šelomo de Yoḥanan Alemanno et du Commentaire sur 1 Samuel 8 de Don Isaac Abravanel. Les Dialoghi d’Amore de Judah Abravanel (Leone Ebreo) y font allusion d’une façon qui reflète certaines utilisations antérieures. Ces auteurs se réfèrent à cette phrase afin de rappeler à leurs lecteurs la métaphysique et la science divine d’une manière générale, sans toutefois s’engager dans une lecture détaillée de la Métaphysique d’Aristote. Il ressort de ce genre d’allusions que ces penseurs ont choisi de prendre leurs distances avec la métaphysique aristotélicienne et avec toute théologie qui y trouve son fondement.
Du fait des aléas de sa transmission, au Moyen Âge et à la Renaissance les lecteurs juifs prenaient la première ligne de la Métaphysique α ἔλαττον (qui correspond aujourd’hui au Livre II) pour la première ligne de la Métaphysique tout entière: «L’étude de la vérité est difficile en un sens et facile en un autre sens». Cette phrase s’est imposée comme un topos, cité comme tel dans de nombreuses œuvres en hébreu, et plus souvent encore sous des formes allusives. C’est notamment le cas des Derašot de Nissim de Gérone, du début du Sefer ha-‘Iqarim de Joseph Albo, du Ḥešeq Šelomo de Yoḥanan Alemanno et du Commentaire sur 1 Samuel 8 de Don Isaac Abravanel. Les Dialoghi d’Amore de Judah Abravanel (Leone Ebreo) y font allusion d’une façon qui reflète certaines utilisations antérieures. Ces auteurs se réfèrent à cette phrase afin de rappeler à leurs lecteurs la métaphysique et la science divine d’une manière générale, sans toutefois s’engager dans une lecture détaillée de la Métaphysique d’Aristote. Il ressort de ce genre d’allusions que ces penseurs ont choisi de prendre leurs distances avec la métaphysique aristotélicienne et avec toute théologie qui y trouve son fondement.
Research Interests: Aristotle, Medieval Studies, Renaissance Studies, Renaissance Humanism, Renaissance literature, and 15 moreMedieval Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Italian Literature, Italian Renaissance literature, Aristotelianism, Hebrew Manuscripts, Medieval Jewish History, Averroism, Renaissance Aristotelianism, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations in the Middle Ages, Renaissance magic and astrology, Aristotle's Metaphysics, Renaissance Italy, History of Medieval Philosophy, and Leone Ebreo(Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Italian Literature, Italian Renaissance literature, Aristotelianism, Hebrew Manuscripts, Medieval Jewish History, Averroism, Renaissance Aristotelianism, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations in the Middle Ages, Renaissance magic and astrology, Aristotle's Metaphysics, Renaissance Italy, History of Medieval Philosophy, and Leone Ebreo)
(Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Italian Literature, Italian Renaissance literature, Aristotelianism, Hebrew Manuscripts, Medieval Jewish History, Averroism, Renaissance Aristotelianism, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations in the Middle Ages, Renaissance magic and astrology, Aristotle's Metaphysics, Renaissance Italy, History of Medieval Philosophy, and Leone Ebreo)
Research Interests: Medieval Philosophy, Philosophy Of Religion, Islamic Philosophy, Islamic Studies, Jewish Philosophy, and 15 moreMedieval Jewish Philosophy, Aristotle's Commentators, Aristotelianism, Hebrew Manuscripts, Medieval Jewish History, Judeo-Arabic, Islamic Thought & Philosophy, Maimonides, Medieval Arabic Philosophy, Medieval Jewish-Muslim Encounters, Judeo-arabic manuscripts regarding Islam, Polemics of Jewish Authors against Islam, Research Medieval Judaism and Jewish Christian relations in Late Antiquity and Medieval age., Maimonides' Guide of Perplexed, Arabic Language and Literature, Pirkei Avot, and Muslim philosophy and thought(Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Aristotle's Commentators, Aristotelianism, Hebrew Manuscripts, Medieval Jewish History, Judeo-Arabic, Islamic Thought & Philosophy, Maimonides, Medieval Arabic Philosophy, Medieval Jewish-Muslim Encounters, Judeo-arabic manuscripts regarding Islam, Polemics of Jewish Authors against Islam, Research Medieval Judaism and Jewish Christian relations in Late Antiquity and Medieval age., Maimonides' Guide of Perplexed, Arabic Language and Literature, Pirkei Avot, and Muslim philosophy and thought)
(Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Aristotle's Commentators, Aristotelianism, Hebrew Manuscripts, Medieval Jewish History, Judeo-Arabic, Islamic Thought & Philosophy, Maimonides, Medieval Arabic Philosophy, Medieval Jewish-Muslim Encounters, Judeo-arabic manuscripts regarding Islam, Polemics of Jewish Authors against Islam, Research Medieval Judaism and Jewish Christian relations in Late Antiquity and Medieval age., Maimonides' Guide of Perplexed, Arabic Language and Literature, Pirkei Avot, and Muslim philosophy and thought)
Research Interests: Medieval Philosophy, Aristotle, Renaissance Philosophy, Medieval logic, Spanish philosophy, and 15 moreAristotelian Logic, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Aristotelianism, Medieval Hebrew Literature, Hebrew Manuscripts, Kabbalah, Renaissance Aristotelianism, Maimonides, Averroes, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Medieval Metaphysics, Aristotle's Metaphysics, Aristoteles, Kabbalah and science, and Codicology and Palaeography of Medieval Hebrew Manuscripts(Aristotelian Logic, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Aristotelianism, Medieval Hebrew Literature, Hebrew Manuscripts, Kabbalah, Renaissance Aristotelianism, Maimonides, Averroes, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Medieval Metaphysics, Aristotle's Metaphysics, Aristoteles, Kabbalah and science, and Codicology and Palaeography of Medieval Hebrew Manuscripts)
(Aristotelian Logic, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Aristotelianism, Medieval Hebrew Literature, Hebrew Manuscripts, Kabbalah, Renaissance Aristotelianism, Maimonides, Averroes, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Medieval Metaphysics, Aristotle's Metaphysics, Aristoteles, Kabbalah and science, and Codicology and Palaeography of Medieval Hebrew Manuscripts)
Through an analysis of his commentary to Song of Songs, Johanan Alemanno emerges as a Hebrew representative of Renaissance Florentine neo-Platonism. His Hesheq Shelomo is a Platonic interpretation of Solomon's desire (Hebrew: hesheq) that... more
Through an analysis of his commentary to Song of Songs, Johanan Alemanno emerges as a Hebrew representative of Renaissance Florentine neo-Platonism. His Hesheq Shelomo is a Platonic interpretation of Solomon's desire (Hebrew: hesheq) that uses Hebrew Aristotelian language to provide an account of human and divine conjunction through desire that is highly indebted to Florentine Symposium literature. Drawing on the language of Averroes' commentaries on Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics and Metaphysics, Alemanno, in fact, replaces Aristotelian criticism of eros and endorsement of philia between equals with an exaltation of the erotic divine madness often associated with Phaedrus among Florentine neo-Platonists. He sees Solomon as a biblical embodiment of this Phaedran madness, which is even reciprocated by God. Through this account, Alemanno seeks to cultivate an audience of Hebrew thinkers who, like their non-Jewish counterparts, would strive to develop a theology that combines Kabbala, neo-Platonism and standard Aristotelian writings.
Research Interests: Renaissance Humanism, Renaissance Philosophy, Renaissance Platonism, Count Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Philosophy of Love, and 15 moreAristotelianism, Christian Kabbalah, Kabbalah, Averroism, Renaissance Aristotelianism, Early Modern Philosophy, Marsilio Ficino, Renaissance magic and astrology, Romantic love, History of Renaissance Philosophy, Philosophy of Love and Sex, 15th Century Florence, Renaissance Florence, Pico Mirandola Astrologia qabbalah conclusiones cabala, and Kabbalah and science(Aristotelianism, Christian Kabbalah, Kabbalah, Averroism, Renaissance Aristotelianism, Early Modern Philosophy, Marsilio Ficino, Renaissance magic and astrology, Romantic love, History of Renaissance Philosophy, Philosophy of Love and Sex, 15th Century Florence, Renaissance Florence, Pico Mirandola Astrologia qabbalah conclusiones cabala, and Kabbalah and science)
(Aristotelianism, Christian Kabbalah, Kabbalah, Averroism, Renaissance Aristotelianism, Early Modern Philosophy, Marsilio Ficino, Renaissance magic and astrology, Romantic love, History of Renaissance Philosophy, Philosophy of Love and Sex, 15th Century Florence, Renaissance Florence, Pico Mirandola Astrologia qabbalah conclusiones cabala, and Kabbalah and science)
Averroes' Middle Commentary on Aristotle's Metaphysics Δ provides a rewrite of Aristotle's text that was apparently intended to convey the plain meaning of the text to a general, though at least somewhat educated, audience. Such a... more
Averroes' Middle Commentary on Aristotle's Metaphysics Δ provides a rewrite of Aristotle's text that was apparently intended to convey the plain meaning of the text to a general, though at least somewhat educated, audience. Such a commentary was necessary because ᾿Usṭāṯ's ninth-century Arabic translation was insufficient in many respects for conveying Aristotle's ideas into Arabic. Accordingly, Averroes' Middle Commentary sought to rephrase and rewrite the text in such a way as to clarify the text, correct apparent errors in it, simplify the text, and add short explanations to it. This article offers a philological characterization of the Middle Commentary that should be an aid for reading the text and comparing it with other commentaries, especially Averroes' Long Commentary on Aristotle's Metaphysics Δ.
Research Interests: Philosophy of Science, Medieval Philosophy, Aristotle, Islamic Philosophy, Medieval Islam, and 15 moreArabic Philosophy, Aristotelian Logic, Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Aristotle's Commentators, Aristotelianism, Renaissance Aristotelianism, Philosophy and Thought in Islamic Science, Averroes, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Medieval Arabic Philosophy, Aristotle's Metaphysics, Medieval Jewish-Muslim Encounters, Judeo-arabic manuscripts regarding Islam, Polemics of Jewish Authors against Islam, History of Medieval Philosophy, and ARISTOTLE - PLATO - METAPHYSICS - EPISTEMOLOGY(Arabic Philosophy, Aristotelian Logic, Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Aristotle's Commentators, Aristotelianism, Renaissance Aristotelianism, Philosophy and Thought in Islamic Science, Averroes, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Medieval Arabic Philosophy, Aristotle's Metaphysics, Medieval Jewish-Muslim Encounters, Judeo-arabic manuscripts regarding Islam, Polemics of Jewish Authors against Islam, History of Medieval Philosophy, and ARISTOTLE - PLATO - METAPHYSICS - EPISTEMOLOGY)
(Arabic Philosophy, Aristotelian Logic, Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Aristotle's Commentators, Aristotelianism, Renaissance Aristotelianism, Philosophy and Thought in Islamic Science, Averroes, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Medieval Arabic Philosophy, Aristotle's Metaphysics, Medieval Jewish-Muslim Encounters, Judeo-arabic manuscripts regarding Islam, Polemics of Jewish Authors against Islam, History of Medieval Philosophy, and ARISTOTLE - PLATO - METAPHYSICS - EPISTEMOLOGY)
Aristotle’s De Interpretatione 16 a 3-8 describes the relationship between writing, words, meanings, and things. Christian and Jewish interpreters took different approaches to interpreting this passage. Scholastic thinkers tended to... more
Aristotle’s De Interpretatione 16 a 3-8 describes the relationship between writing, words, meanings, and things. Christian and Jewish interpreters took different approaches to interpreting this passage. Scholastic thinkers tended to examine the differences between meanings and the meaning of meanings, or first-second intentions, and this terminology is even reflected in William of Luna’s translation of Averroes’ Middle Commentary on this passage. The 14th c. Jewish interpreters, who relied on Jacob Anatoli’s 13th c. translation of Averroes' Middle Commentary, tended not to find the first-second intention distinction in De Interpretatione 16 a 3-8, and instead took Averroes’ account of meaning at face value. This changed in the 15th c. when Jewish thinkers began to engage more directly and more significantly with Latin scholastic works, and began to interpret Aristotle accordingly.
Research Interests: Logic, Aristotle, Medieval logic, Thomas Aquinas, Scholastic Philosophy, and 15 moreAristotelian Logic, Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Aristotle's Commentators, Aristotelianism, Hebrew Manuscripts, Medieval Jewish History, Analogy (Philosophy), Renaissance Aristotelianism, Early Modern Philosophy, Averroes, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), St Thomas Aquinas, Aristoteles, and Aristotélisme(Aristotelian Logic, Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Aristotle's Commentators, Aristotelianism, Hebrew Manuscripts, Medieval Jewish History, Analogy (Philosophy), Renaissance Aristotelianism, Early Modern Philosophy, Averroes, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), St Thomas Aquinas, Aristoteles, and Aristotélisme)
(Aristotelian Logic, Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Aristotle's Commentators, Aristotelianism, Hebrew Manuscripts, Medieval Jewish History, Analogy (Philosophy), Renaissance Aristotelianism, Early Modern Philosophy, Averroes, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), St Thomas Aquinas, Aristoteles, and Aristotélisme)
Research Interests: Jewish Studies, History Of Platonic Tradition, Islamic Philosophy, Islamic Studies, Jewish Thought, and 15 moreJewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Jewish historiography, Medieval Jewish History, Modern Jewish Philosophy, Leo Strauss, Judeo-Arabic, Modern Jewish History, German-Jewish Studies, Medieval Arabic Philosophy, Modern Jewish Thought, Wissenschaft des Judentums, Research Medieval Judaism and Jewish Christian relations in Late Antiquity and Medieval age., 20th Century Political Philosophy (Leo Strauss, and Modern European Jewish History(Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Jewish historiography, Medieval Jewish History, Modern Jewish Philosophy, Leo Strauss, Judeo-Arabic, Modern Jewish History, German-Jewish Studies, Medieval Arabic Philosophy, Modern Jewish Thought, Wissenschaft des Judentums, Research Medieval Judaism and Jewish Christian relations in Late Antiquity and Medieval age., 20th Century Political Philosophy (Leo Strauss, and Modern European Jewish History)
(Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Jewish historiography, Medieval Jewish History, Modern Jewish Philosophy, Leo Strauss, Judeo-Arabic, Modern Jewish History, German-Jewish Studies, Medieval Arabic Philosophy, Modern Jewish Thought, Wissenschaft des Judentums, Research Medieval Judaism and Jewish Christian relations in Late Antiquity and Medieval age., 20th Century Political Philosophy (Leo Strauss, and Modern European Jewish History)
Research Interests: Medieval Philosophy, Jewish Studies, Aristotle, Renaissance Philosophy, Thomas Aquinas, and 15 moreScholastic Philosophy, Jewish Thought, Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Aristotle's Commentators, Aristotelianism, Hebrew Manuscripts, Medieval Jewish History, Manuscripts (Medieval Studies), Maimonides, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations in the Middle Ages, Aristoteles, Gersonides, and History of Medieval Philosophy(Scholastic Philosophy, Jewish Thought, Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Aristotle's Commentators, Aristotelianism, Hebrew Manuscripts, Medieval Jewish History, Manuscripts (Medieval Studies), Maimonides, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations in the Middle Ages, Aristoteles, Gersonides, and History of Medieval Philosophy)
(Scholastic Philosophy, Jewish Thought, Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Aristotle's Commentators, Aristotelianism, Hebrew Manuscripts, Medieval Jewish History, Manuscripts (Medieval Studies), Maimonides, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations in the Middle Ages, Aristoteles, Gersonides, and History of Medieval Philosophy)
At the end of the fifteenth century, the Castilian-Aragonian Eli Habilio wrote what is now the only extant, complete, and original Hebrew commentary on the entire Metaphysics of Aristotle. This commentary is short, about 15 folio pages... more
At the end of the fifteenth century, the Castilian-Aragonian Eli Habilio wrote what is now the only extant, complete, and original Hebrew commentary on the entire Metaphysics of Aristotle. This commentary is short, about 15 folio pages long, and con- sists almost entirely of quotations from Averroes’ Middle Commentary on Aristotle’s Metaphysics in the early fourteenth-century translation of Qalonimos ben Qalonimos. Yet Habilio elsewhere expresses only disdain for Averroes and hopes that Jews will turn away from Averroes to read Scotus’ metaphysical works instead. The author’s claim is that Habilio’s Commentary is intended to supplement his translation of Antonius Andreas’ questions on the Metaphysics and provide a Hebrew summary of the most read Hebrew version of the Metaphysics (viz., Averroes’ Middle Commentary) that would choose its words in such a way as not to contradict Scotus and in some cases even to encourage its readers to seek out a Scotist approach.
Research Interests: Metaphysics, Medieval Philosophy, Jewish Studies, Renaissance Philosophy, Spanish philosophy, and 15 moreJewish - Christian Relations, Duns Scotus, Thomism, Scholastic Philosophy, Jewish Thought, Renaissance literature, Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Aristotelianism, Ancient Greek Philosophy / Aristotle, Aristotle's Metaphysics, Aristoteles, 15th Century, Scotism, and Thomistic Metaphysics(Jewish - Christian Relations, Duns Scotus, Thomism, Scholastic Philosophy, Jewish Thought, Renaissance literature, Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Aristotelianism, Ancient Greek Philosophy / Aristotle, Aristotle's Metaphysics, Aristoteles, 15th Century, Scotism, and Thomistic Metaphysics)
(Jewish - Christian Relations, Duns Scotus, Thomism, Scholastic Philosophy, Jewish Thought, Renaissance literature, Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Aristotelianism, Ancient Greek Philosophy / Aristotle, Aristotle's Metaphysics, Aristoteles, 15th Century, Scotism, and Thomistic Metaphysics)
Research Interests: Abrahamic Religions, Jewish Studies, Prayer, Jewish Thought, Jewish Philosophy, and 15 moreMedieval Jewish Philosophy, Biblical Interpretation, Judeo-Arabic, Maimonides, Biblical Exegesis, Islamic and Jewish Studies, Abraham, Medieval Jewish-Muslim Encounters, Judeo-arabic manuscripts regarding Islam, Polemics of Jewish Authors against Islam, Jewish Prayer, Esoteric Prayer, Akedah (the binding and near murder of Isaac), Biblical Abraham narrative, Maimonides' Guide of Perplexed, Karaites, Judeo-Arabic, Medieval Jewish History and Literature, and Qiblah(Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Biblical Interpretation, Judeo-Arabic, Maimonides, Biblical Exegesis, Islamic and Jewish Studies, Abraham, Medieval Jewish-Muslim Encounters, Judeo-arabic manuscripts regarding Islam, Polemics of Jewish Authors against Islam, Jewish Prayer, Esoteric Prayer, Akedah (the binding and near murder of Isaac), Biblical Abraham narrative, Maimonides' Guide of Perplexed, Karaites, Judeo-Arabic, Medieval Jewish History and Literature, and Qiblah)
(Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Biblical Interpretation, Judeo-Arabic, Maimonides, Biblical Exegesis, Islamic and Jewish Studies, Abraham, Medieval Jewish-Muslim Encounters, Judeo-arabic manuscripts regarding Islam, Polemics of Jewish Authors against Islam, Jewish Prayer, Esoteric Prayer, Akedah (the binding and near murder of Isaac), Biblical Abraham narrative, Maimonides' Guide of Perplexed, Karaites, Judeo-Arabic, Medieval Jewish History and Literature, and Qiblah)
Full version available online: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/ajs-review/article/does-maimonidess-mishneh-torah-forbid-reading-the-guide-of-the-perplexed-on-platonic-punishments-for-freethinkers/EC0EF297F25B2BDD0E0A73D5F5560B35
Research Interests: Jewish Law, Medieval Philosophy, Jewish Studies, Plato, History Of Platonic Tradition, and 15 moreJewish History, Al Farabi, Arabic Philosophy, Jewish Thought, Jewish Philosophy, Plato and Platonism, Judeo-Arabic, Maimonides, Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations in the Middle Ages, Plato's Laws, Medieval Jewish-Muslim Encounters, Judeo-arabic manuscripts regarding Islam, Polemics of Jewish Authors against Islam, Mishneh Torah, Maimonides' Guide of Perplexed, History of Philosophy, and medieval islam and Judaism(Jewish History, Al Farabi, Arabic Philosophy, Jewish Thought, Jewish Philosophy, Plato and Platonism, Judeo-Arabic, Maimonides, Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations in the Middle Ages, Plato's Laws, Medieval Jewish-Muslim Encounters, Judeo-arabic manuscripts regarding Islam, Polemics of Jewish Authors against Islam, Mishneh Torah, Maimonides' Guide of Perplexed, History of Philosophy, and medieval islam and Judaism)
(Jewish History, Al Farabi, Arabic Philosophy, Jewish Thought, Jewish Philosophy, Plato and Platonism, Judeo-Arabic, Maimonides, Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations in the Middle Ages, Plato's Laws, Medieval Jewish-Muslim Encounters, Judeo-arabic manuscripts regarding Islam, Polemics of Jewish Authors against Islam, Mishneh Torah, Maimonides' Guide of Perplexed, History of Philosophy, and medieval islam and Judaism)
Open access: https://www.degruyter.com/viewbooktoc/product/490362
Research Interests: Medieval Philosophy, Jewish Studies, Medieval Studies, Renaissance Platonism, Jewish Thought, and 15 moreMedieval Jewish Philosophy, Plato and Platonism, Aristotelianism, Medieval Jewish History, Renaissance Aristotelianism, Book of Song of Songs, Averroes, Latin Averroism, Biblical Exegesis, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Judeo-Arabic Culture in the Middle Ages, Theological Relationships between Islam (in particular Shi'i Islam) and Judaism, Meta-Historical Theological Structures., Gersonides, Platonic Love, Research Medieval Judaism and Jewish Christian relations in Late Antiquity and Medieval age., and Medieval Jewish biblical exegesis(Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Plato and Platonism, Aristotelianism, Medieval Jewish History, Renaissance Aristotelianism, Book of Song of Songs, Averroes, Latin Averroism, Biblical Exegesis, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Judeo-Arabic Culture in the Middle Ages, Theological Relationships between Islam (in particular Shi'i Islam) and Judaism, Meta-Historical Theological Structures., Gersonides, Platonic Love, Research Medieval Judaism and Jewish Christian relations in Late Antiquity and Medieval age., and Medieval Jewish biblical exegesis)
(Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Plato and Platonism, Aristotelianism, Medieval Jewish History, Renaissance Aristotelianism, Book of Song of Songs, Averroes, Latin Averroism, Biblical Exegesis, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Judeo-Arabic Culture in the Middle Ages, Theological Relationships between Islam (in particular Shi'i Islam) and Judaism, Meta-Historical Theological Structures., Gersonides, Platonic Love, Research Medieval Judaism and Jewish Christian relations in Late Antiquity and Medieval age., and Medieval Jewish biblical exegesis)
Research Interests:
10.1353/jqr.2017.0025
Research Interests: Medieval Philosophy, Jewish Studies, History Of Platonic Tradition, Islamic Philosophy, Jewish History, and 8 moreJewish Thought, Jewish Philosophy, Plato and Platonism, Islamic Thought & Philosophy, Jewish Cultural Studies, Maimonides, Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations in the Middle Ages, and Judah Halevi
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The 15th century Jewish Aragonian thinker, Abraham Bibago treats conjunction in his two main works, Derekh Emunah (“The Way of Faith”) and Commentary on Aristotle’s Metaphysics. In the former, which explicitly interprets Biblical and... more
The 15th century Jewish Aragonian thinker, Abraham Bibago treats conjunction in his two main works, Derekh Emunah (“The Way of Faith”) and Commentary on Aristotle’s Metaphysics. In the former, which explicitly interprets Biblical and Talmudic stories along philosophical lines, Bibago promotes a neo-Platonic intellectual emanation schema and boldly asserts that human happiness is attained through conjunction with higher intellects. In the Commentary, which primarily treats Aristotle’s Metaphysics and Averroes’ commentaries on it, Bibago gives an account of conjunction that does not necessarily fit with the intellectual conjunction of Derekh Emunah. Indeed, his remarks in the Commentary are much less decisive about human happiness, suggesting that Bibago qua philosopher is more open minded about the summum bonum than he is qua religious thinker.
Research Interests: Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Medieval Philosophy, Jewish Studies, Medieval History, and 20 moreMedieval Studies, Renaissance Studies, Jewish History, Jewish - Christian Relations, Jewish Thought, History of Religion (Medieval Studies), Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish History, Sephardic Studies, Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Manuscripts (Medieval Studies), Averroism, Sephardic Literature, Averroes, Latin Averroism, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations in the Middle Ages, Jewish Averroism, and Sephardic Literature and Culture(Medieval Studies, Renaissance Studies, Jewish History, Jewish - Christian Relations, Jewish Thought, History of Religion (Medieval Studies), Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish History, Sephardic Studies, Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Manuscripts (Medieval Studies), Averroism, Sephardic Literature, Averroes, Latin Averroism, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations in the Middle Ages, Jewish Averroism, and Sephardic Literature and Culture)
(Medieval Studies, Renaissance Studies, Jewish History, Jewish - Christian Relations, Jewish Thought, History of Religion (Medieval Studies), Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish History, Sephardic Studies, Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Manuscripts (Medieval Studies), Averroism, Sephardic Literature, Averroes, Latin Averroism, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations in the Middle Ages, Jewish Averroism, and Sephardic Literature and Culture)
This material has been published in Aristotle and the Arabic Tradition edited by Ahmed Alwishah and Josh Hayes. This version is free to view and download for personal use only. Not for re-distribution, re-sale or use in derivative works.... more
This material has been published in Aristotle and the Arabic Tradition edited by Ahmed Alwishah and Josh Hayes. This version is free to view and download for personal use only. Not for re-distribution, re-sale or use in derivative works. © Cambridge University Press.
Research Interests: Philosophy, Philosophy Of Language, Philosophy of Science, Aristotle, Philosophy of Psychology, and 13 moreIslamic Philosophy, Intentionality, Islamic Studies, Arabic Philosophy, Aristotle's Commentators, Islamic Thought & Philosophy, Philosophy and Thought in Islamic Science, Maimonides, Averroes, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Active Intellect, History of Philosophy, and Maimonides, Averroes, Thomas Aquinas: God's Existence(Islamic Philosophy, Intentionality, Islamic Studies, Arabic Philosophy, Aristotle's Commentators, Islamic Thought & Philosophy, Philosophy and Thought in Islamic Science, Maimonides, Averroes, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Active Intellect, History of Philosophy, and Maimonides, Averroes, Thomas Aquinas: God's Existence)
(Islamic Philosophy, Intentionality, Islamic Studies, Arabic Philosophy, Aristotle's Commentators, Islamic Thought & Philosophy, Philosophy and Thought in Islamic Science, Maimonides, Averroes, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Active Intellect, History of Philosophy, and Maimonides, Averroes, Thomas Aquinas: God's Existence)
While Averroes' work is often considered to represent the culmination of the method of Aristotelian demonstration in Arabic philosophy, a short passage of his Long Commentary on Aristotle's Metaphysics Γ.2 emphasizes the prominence of... more
While Averroes' work is often considered to represent the culmination of the method of Aristotelian demonstration in Arabic philosophy, a short passage of his Long Commentary on Aristotle's Metaphysics Γ.2 emphasizes the prominence of dialectic and calls for a re-examination of dialectic and demonstration in Averroes' philosophical works. In this passage Averroes describes dialectic as an acceptable form of philosophy and the dialectician as a kind of scientist. In putting dialectic and demonstration on an equal, or nearly equal footing, Averroes seems to go against his own account of the dialectical and demonstrative classes of people in the Decisive Treatise. Moreover, this interpretation of Metaphysics Γ.2 also contradicts Averroes' explanation of the same passage in the Middle Commentary on the Metaphysics as well as Aristotle's own description of dialectic throughout the Metaphysics. That is, in the Long Commentary on the Metaphysics, Averroes departs from his earlier views, and describes dialectic as a necessary part of metaphysics, even though the centrality of dialectic argumentation could call into question the entire project of metaphysics and consequently of the sciences whose demonstrations rely on metaphysical ground, i.e., all sciences. Averroes does not emphasize this view, but its presence is nevertheless unambiguous.
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In: Studies in Jewish History and Culture, Judah Moscato Sermons, vol. iv. Leiden: Brill, 2015. pp. 327-346.
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Abraham Bibago’s Commentary on Aristotle’s Metaphysics is a highly technical close reading of the first nine books of Aristotle’s text and Averroes’ middle and long commentaries on it. It is the only extant Hebrew commentary on the... more
Abraham Bibago’s Commentary on Aristotle’s Metaphysics is a highly technical close reading of the first nine books of Aristotle’s text and Averroes’ middle and long commentaries on it. It is the only extant Hebrew commentary on the Metaphysics. While the commentary itself contains almost no biblical references or allusions, Bibago’s introductory remarks are made up primarily of interwoven biblical quotes. This introduction thus offers a biblical or religious context to a purely philosophical text.
Book Δ of Aristotle’s Metaphysics and Averroes’s three commentaries on it provide explanations of over thirty important metaphysical terms that are commonly used by many of the sciences. The Hebrew translation of Metaphysics Δ with... more
Book Δ of Aristotle’s Metaphysics and Averroes’s three commentaries on it provide explanations of over thirty important metaphysical terms that are commonly used by many of the sciences. The Hebrew translation of Metaphysics Δ with Averroes’s Long Commentary, and its subsequent revision, provide a good lens with which to view the development of basic Hebrew scientific terminology and the way scientific terms were translated from Greek into Arabic and then into Hebrew. An examination of the differences between the original Hebrew translation and the later revision of this text shows that the revision was undertaken not only to clarify and correct, sometimes unsuccessfully, the original translation, but also, and more importantly, to promote the development of a standardized Hebrew scientific language. This standardization extends from the basic and formulaic terms that serve to outline the structure of the Long Commentary to central Aristotelian scientific terms, such as being, essence, substance, whole, and universal. This study thus addresses the question of how medieval translators proceeded in their terminological choices as well as how revisers proceeded and why. It is a case study of the medieval Arabic into Hebrew translation process.
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Research Interests:
In one incomplete manuscript of Aristotle’s Metaphysics with Averroes’ Long Commentary, a scribe has inserted short prayers, which seem to fit the genre of tefillot siyyum, to be read by the reader of the text upon completion of certain... more
In one incomplete manuscript of Aristotle’s Metaphysics with Averroes’ Long Commentary, a scribe has inserted short prayers, which seem to fit the genre of tefillot siyyum, to be read by the reader of the text upon completion of certain chapters of Book Δ of the Metaphysics. These prayers are thematically related to the content of Aristotle’s Metaphysics and Averroes’ commentary and accordingly suggest a philosophical interpretation of Judaism, God and the creation of the world that has as its centre-point metaphysics, as understood by Aristotle and his most important commentator, Averroes.
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Translators of Aristotle’s and Averroës’ metaphysical works into 14th C Hebrew often associated important philosophical concepts with Hebrew terms that were also used to signify central Jewish and Biblical religious concepts. Here I... more
Translators of Aristotle’s and Averroës’ metaphysical works into 14th C Hebrew often associated important philosophical concepts with Hebrew terms that were also used to signify central Jewish and Biblical religious concepts. Here I examine how two such terms, “mofet” and “devequt”, were used to refer to extraordinary, divine wonders and to clinging respectively in the religious texts, but to Aristotelian demonstration and continuity respectively in the translations of Averroës’ Long Commentary on Aristotle’s Metaphysics. This kind of convergence of metaphysical and religious terms makes possible, indeed encourages, a re-interpretation of the religious concepts along Aristotelian lines. Biblical expressions of God’s wonders are thus to be interpreted to refer to Aristotelian demonstration and the mystical desire to cling to God is to refer to unifi cation with the Active Intellect.
Latin Abstract: Translatores, qui Aristotelis et Averrois opera metaphysica in linguam Hebraicam saeculi 14. transferebant, notabilibus conceptibus philosophicis saepe nomina Hebraica assignaverut, quibus et principales notiones religiosae Judaicae ac Biblicae solebant exprimi. In hac dissertatione investigatur, quomodo duo talium nominum, scil. “mofet” et “devequt”, quae in textibus religiosis “extra ordinaria miracula divina” et “adhaerentiam” proprie significant, in translationibus Averrois Commentarii Magni in Aristotelis Metaphysicam ad demonstrationem Aristotelicam et continuationem significandas transumebantur. Huiusmodi nominum metaphysicorum cum religiosis coniunctio conceptus religiosos iuxta sensum Aristotelicum denuo explicari permittit, imo suadet. Hinc dicta Biblica quae miracula Dei olim significaverunt ad demonstrationes Aristotelicas relata sunt; item desiderium mysticum adhaerendi ad Deum de unione cum Intellectu Agenti intellectum est.
Latin Abstract: Translatores, qui Aristotelis et Averrois opera metaphysica in linguam Hebraicam saeculi 14. transferebant, notabilibus conceptibus philosophicis saepe nomina Hebraica assignaverut, quibus et principales notiones religiosae Judaicae ac Biblicae solebant exprimi. In hac dissertatione investigatur, quomodo duo talium nominum, scil. “mofet” et “devequt”, quae in textibus religiosis “extra ordinaria miracula divina” et “adhaerentiam” proprie significant, in translationibus Averrois Commentarii Magni in Aristotelis Metaphysicam ad demonstrationem Aristotelicam et continuationem significandas transumebantur. Huiusmodi nominum metaphysicorum cum religiosis coniunctio conceptus religiosos iuxta sensum Aristotelicum denuo explicari permittit, imo suadet. Hinc dicta Biblica quae miracula Dei olim significaverunt ad demonstrationes Aristotelicas relata sunt; item desiderium mysticum adhaerendi ad Deum de unione cum Intellectu Agenti intellectum est.
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The articles in this special issue treat a broad spectrum of Aristotelian logicians in a range of medieval traditions. They concern not only well known thinkers like al-Fārābī, Avicenna, Faḫr al-Dīn al-Rāzī, Maimonides, Averroes, and... more
The articles in this special issue treat a broad spectrum of Aristotelian logicians in a range of medieval traditions. They concern not only well known thinkers like al-Fārābī, Avicenna, Faḫr al-Dīn al-Rāzī, Maimonides, Averroes, and Gersonides, but also such thinkers as Abū l-Barakāt al-Baġdādī, Jacob Anatoli, Shem Ṭob Falaquera, Samuel ben Judah of Marseilles, Ṭodros Ṭodrosi, and various anonymous writers and commentators in Arabic and Hebrew. Nearly every one of these thinkers operated in an independent cultural milieu in which Aristotelian logic was studied from somewhat different texts. Still, taken together, they present an interconnected world of study that traversed East and West, and translated and adapted Greek ideas into Arabic and Hebrew. Moreover, as the final two articles show, this world was closely tied into the intellectual currents of the Latin Scholasticism. These articles depict a series of crosscultural, inter-lingual, inter-religious, and international attempts to understand the fundamental criteria for knowing and transmitting knowledge that we know of as logic.
Research Interests: Medieval Philosophy, History of Logic, Medieval logic, Thomas Aquinas, Ibn Sina, and 15 moreAl Farabi, Philosophy of Logic, Aristotelian Logic, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Aristotelianism, Albertus Magnus, Avicenna, Averroes, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Medieval Arabic Philosophy, Arabic Logic, Lógica, History of Medieval Philosophy, Logica, and History and Philosophy of Logic
The articles in this volume explore the teachings on happiness by a range of thinkers from antiquity through Spinoza, most of whom held human happiness to comprise intellectual knowledge of that which is Good in itself, namely God. These... more
The articles in this volume explore the teachings on happiness by a range of thinkers from antiquity through Spinoza, most of whom held human happiness to comprise intellectual knowledge of that which is Good in itself, namely God. These thinkers were from Greek pagan, Muslim, Jewish, and Christian backgrounds and wrote their works in Greek, Arabic, Hebrew, and Latin. Still, they shared similar philosophical views of what constitutes the Highest Good, and of the intellectual activities to be undertaken in pursuit of that Good. Yet, they differed, often greatly, in the role they assigned to deeds and practical activities in the pursuit of this happiness. These differences were, at times, not only along religious lines, but also along political and ethical lines. Other differences treated the relationship between the body and intellectual happiness and the various ways in which bodily health and well-being can contribute to intellectual health and true happiness.
Research Interests: Medieval Philosophy, Aristotle, History Of Platonic Tradition, Islamic Philosophy, Thomas Aquinas, and 15 moreAl Farabi, Medieval Europe, Arabic Philosophy, Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Plato and Platonism, Aristotle's Commentators, Aristotelianism, Islamic Thought & Philosophy, Maimonides, Averroes, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Medieval Arabic Philosophy, Philosophy of Happiness, and History of Medieval Philosophy(Al Farabi, Medieval Europe, Arabic Philosophy, Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Plato and Platonism, Aristotle's Commentators, Aristotelianism, Islamic Thought & Philosophy, Maimonides, Averroes, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Medieval Arabic Philosophy, Philosophy of Happiness, and History of Medieval Philosophy)
(Al Farabi, Medieval Europe, Arabic Philosophy, Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Plato and Platonism, Aristotle's Commentators, Aristotelianism, Islamic Thought & Philosophy, Maimonides, Averroes, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Medieval Arabic Philosophy, Philosophy of Happiness, and History of Medieval Philosophy)
Research Interests: Islamic Philosophy, Medieval Iberian History, Al-Andalus, Arabic Philosophy, Jewish Philosophy, and 10 moreMedieval Jewish Philosophy, Maimonides, Andalusia/Al-Andalus, Mu'tazilites, Averroes, Ibn Bajjah (Avempace), Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Medieval Arabic Philosophy, Karaism, and History of Arabic Philosophy
Iyyun: The Jerusalem Philosophical Quarterly 67 (2018): 70-77
Research Interests: Medieval Philosophy, Jewish Studies, Islamic Philosophy, Kalam (Islamic Theology), Arabic Philosophy, and 15 moreIlm al-Kalam, Jewish Thought, Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Christian Apologetics, Muslim Theology and Philosophy, Judeo-Arabic, Islamic Thought & Philosophy, Medieval Christianity, Medieval Arabic Philosophy, Christian kalam, Medieval Jewish-Muslim Encounters, Judeo-arabic manuscripts regarding Islam, Polemics of Jewish Authors against Islam, Muslim Philosophy, Karaites, Judeo-Arabic, Medieval Jewish History and Literature, and Muslim philosophy and thought(Ilm al-Kalam, Jewish Thought, Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Christian Apologetics, Muslim Theology and Philosophy, Judeo-Arabic, Islamic Thought & Philosophy, Medieval Christianity, Medieval Arabic Philosophy, Christian kalam, Medieval Jewish-Muslim Encounters, Judeo-arabic manuscripts regarding Islam, Polemics of Jewish Authors against Islam, Muslim Philosophy, Karaites, Judeo-Arabic, Medieval Jewish History and Literature, and Muslim philosophy and thought)
(Ilm al-Kalam, Jewish Thought, Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Christian Apologetics, Muslim Theology and Philosophy, Judeo-Arabic, Islamic Thought & Philosophy, Medieval Christianity, Medieval Arabic Philosophy, Christian kalam, Medieval Jewish-Muslim Encounters, Judeo-arabic manuscripts regarding Islam, Polemics of Jewish Authors against Islam, Muslim Philosophy, Karaites, Judeo-Arabic, Medieval Jewish History and Literature, and Muslim philosophy and thought)
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Research Interests:
Judah Moscato was a Jewish Renaissance philosopher , whose writings combine the richness of the Jewish tradition of Bible, Talmud, philosophy-theology, and Kabbalah with neo-Platonic imagery then popular in Italy, especially in Florence.
Research Interests: Jewish Studies, Renaissance Studies, Renaissance Humanism, Jewish Mysticism, Renaissance Philosophy, and 13 moreJewish History, Jewish Thought, Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Neoplatonism, Kabbalah, Jews in Italian Renaissance, Marsilio Ficino, Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations in the Middle Ages, Italian Jewish history, Judah Halevi, Kuzari, and Kabbalah and science
Research Interests: Jewish Studies, Renaissance Studies, Jewish History, Jewish Thought, Jewish Philosophy, and 10 moreMedieval Jewish Philosophy, Aristotelianism, Sephardic Studies, Sephardi/Mizrahi Studies, Renaissance Aristotelianism, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Aristotle's Metaphysics, Sephardic Jews, Middle Ages and Renaissance Spanish literature, and Sephardic Literature and Culture
27 December 2023
Zoom: https://biu-ac-il-ADMINISTRATION.zoom.us/j/86255219526?pwd=OHVCaERUKzA1YUt2M2VpaERDUGhIUT09
Zoom: https://biu-ac-il-ADMINISTRATION.zoom.us/j/86255219526?pwd=OHVCaERUKzA1YUt2M2VpaERDUGhIUT09
Research Interests:
The XXVIth annual SIEPM colloquium, A Research Workshop of the Israel Science Foundation, will take place on 4-6 April 2022 at Bar Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel. The subject of the colloquium is: Dialectic in the Middle Ages:... more
The XXVIth annual SIEPM colloquium, A Research Workshop of the Israel Science Foundation, will take place on 4-6 April 2022 at Bar Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel. The subject of the colloquium is: Dialectic in the Middle Ages: Between Debate and the Foundation of Science. Dialectic played a central role in medieval Islamic, Jewish, and Christian intellectual cultures as both a tool for knowledge making and an object of study in its own right. Medieval intellectual cultures saw dialectic, often associated with Aristotle's Topica, as crucial for describing and defining philosophy and science, as well as characterizing and inculcating religious beliefs. Debates and discussions, which played a large role in medieval education systems in all three traditions, were also frequently associated with Aristotle's Topica. Indeed, Aristotle's chief text on dialectic was associated with teaching the masses religious ideas, constructing arguments for various forms of debate, imparting religious, scientific, and philosophical concepts to the intellectual elite, and discovering the grounds of scientific arguments and their basic premises. At the same time, the text enabled a study of the methods themselves, viz. a study of arguments based on opinions, generally accepted premises (as opposed to demonstrations), induction, and the groundwork of debate itself. The forms of disputations and debate that we encounter in medieval Islamic, Jewish, and Christian intellectual cultures varied among intellectual and religious climates and so did the historical understanding of dialectic.
Research Interests: Medieval Philosophy, Aristotle, Islamic Philosophy, Al Farabi, Arabic Philosophy, and 15 moreJewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Aristotle's Commentators, Aristotelianism, Islamic Thought & Philosophy, Aristotle's Rhetoric and Poetics, Albertus Magnus, Maimonides, Averroes, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Medieval Arabic Philosophy, St Thomas Aquinas, Peter Abelard, Aristoteles, and Dialectics(Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Aristotle's Commentators, Aristotelianism, Islamic Thought & Philosophy, Aristotle's Rhetoric and Poetics, Albertus Magnus, Maimonides, Averroes, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Medieval Arabic Philosophy, St Thomas Aquinas, Peter Abelard, Aristoteles, and Dialectics)
(Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Aristotle's Commentators, Aristotelianism, Islamic Thought & Philosophy, Aristotle's Rhetoric and Poetics, Albertus Magnus, Maimonides, Averroes, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Medieval Arabic Philosophy, St Thomas Aquinas, Peter Abelard, Aristoteles, and Dialectics)
Research Interests:
Sponsored by: the Israel Institute of Advanced Studies, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Bar Ilan University, and the Joseph and Rebecca Meyerhoff Program and Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Maryland.
Co-sponsors: Israel Institute for Advanced Studies and Bar Ilan University
Conference in Honor of Prof. Steven Harvey
האם העובדה שבין הפילוסופים הגדולים של המאות ה-12 עד ה-14 בספרד ובפרובאנס נמנים כותבי הפארודיות והשירה ההומוריסטית הגדולים היא מקרית בלבד? עיון בכתבים ההומוריסטיים של ההוגים הפילוסופים האלה מטיל ספק בכך. במסגרת הקורס, נבחן מחדש את ההבדלים... more
האם העובדה שבין הפילוסופים הגדולים של המאות ה-12 עד ה-14 בספרד ובפרובאנס נמנים כותבי הפארודיות והשירה ההומוריסטית הגדולים היא מקרית בלבד? עיון בכתבים ההומוריסטיים של ההוגים הפילוסופים האלה מטיל ספק בכך. במסגרת הקורס, נבחן מחדש את ההבדלים בין כתבים הומוריסטיים וכתבים פילוסופים "יבשים" ונשאל כיצד ניתן לזהות מהכתבים אילו הומוריסטים ואילו פילוסופים, וכיצד לזהות מתי מדובר בתוכן רציני ולא רציני. שאלות אלו מעוררות מחשבה על גבולות האלגוריה והפרשנות. מתי פרשנות או אלגוריה מסויימת רצינית ומזמינה דיון ומתי היא חורגת כל כך מעבר לגבולות הרצינות שהיא כבר מצחיקה? נראה שייחודיות ההוגים האלה, בעיקר במאה ה-14, היא בכך שהם הכירו את הקושיים האלה ואף בחנו אותם בכתביהם, כולל גם בכתבים שאנו לא חושבים עליהם כ"פילוסופים" אלא כהומוריסטים בלבד. נלמד כי הערבוב בין מילות בדיחה ומילות דתורה שנמצא כבר בתלמוד נמשך והתפתח בעקבות בוא הפילוסופיה האריסטוטלית לדרום אירופה.
Course Objectives: To what extent does Jewish thought permit open inquiry and open ended questions about any topic? While it is often said that Jewish law permits any and all questions so long as one follows the Law, there does not seem... more
Course Objectives: To what extent does Jewish thought permit open inquiry and open ended questions about any topic? While it is often said that Jewish law permits any and all questions so long as one follows the Law, there does not seem to be much explicit halakhic justification for this approach and indeed, some reasons to think that open-minded questioning is not permitted. Yet, many of the greatest Jewish thinkers, including Judah Halevi, Maimonides, and Gersonides, sought to define a halakhic space in which open questions, and therefore philosophy can take place. In this course we shall examine the various definitions of this kind of open-inquiry space with the following questions in mind: Is open-questioning of divine things a threat to the Law? Can open-inquiry be prevented even if we want to? Why is it so difficult to permit asking such questions in a halakhic context with the result that important Jewish thinkers have radically different explanations for why it is permitted? Course Content: The course will consist of readings from an array of different Jewish thinkers who sought to define a space for open questions within the halakhah. We shall focus on the different approaches of the thinkers and the questions they ask. The questions could be scientific (is the world created? How old is the world?), political (can the law be adjusted to accord with changing ideas of justice?), or theological (does God exist? Does He communicate with human beings). Often these questions are not answerable by the human intellect. What then should a thinker, Jew, and philosopher do? Course Requirements: Attendance at all classes. Readings will be supplied in a course booklet (available at Maf'il Print). Students are recommended to read the readings prior to class and then look over them again during class. There will be a multiple-choice examination (in English) at the end of the semester.
Abraham ibn Daud and Moses Maimonides
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
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Research Interests:
I lack the showmanship of America’s famous talk-radio hosts, but even Rush Limbaugh didn’t try to teach Maimonides and al-Farabi on the radio.
Research Interests:
https://podcasts.apple.com/il/podcast/yehuda-halper-on-maimonides-the-physician/id921756215?i=1000646456922 The outstanding rabbinic authority and philosopher of the Middle Ages, Maimonides, was also a physician. After writing The Guide... more
https://podcasts.apple.com/il/podcast/yehuda-halper-on-maimonides-the-physician/id921756215?i=1000646456922
The outstanding rabbinic authority and philosopher of the Middle Ages, Maimonides, was also a physician. After writing The Guide of the Perplexed, his great philosophical treatise, he turned his attention to composing works of medicine. He produced ten: On Hemorrhoids, On Cohabitation, On Asthma, On Poisons and Their Antidotes, Regimen of Health, On the Causes of Symptoms, Extracts from Galen, Medical Aphorisms, a Commentary on Hippocrates’ Aphorisms, and a Glossary of Drug Names.
In all of these, Maimonides is preoccupied with organizing, clarifying, simplifying vast expanses of text into usable guidelines. That’s one reason why the production of and instruction in aphorisms was so important for him—they were designed to be easy for physicians and their patients to remember. And there was a lot to remember. According to Maimonides, a doctor must know all about anatomy, symptoms, the health and sickness of the body and its parts, how to restore health when a person is sick, and food and diets, medicines, bathing, bandaging, and the various instruments that a medical doctor would need to use.
To get a sense of all this, the Maimonides expert Yehuda Halper sits down with host Jonathan Silver to focus on one particular medical work, Maimonides’s Commentary on Hippocrates’ Aphorisms. Many now will be familiar with Hippocrates because the popular Hippocratic oath that inducts physicians into their profession is attributed to him. But in Maimonides’ time, medical research often took the form of commentary on the ancient writings of Hippocrates. One of Hippocrates earliest and most authoritative commentators was Galen, an ancient Roman doctor, and in his commentary, Maimonides applies his reason and empirical experience in the medical field to both of them. Along the way, Halper, in the fourth and final episode in their mini-series on Maimonides, explains how Maimonides thinks about the nature of authority, about the role and also the limits of tradition, and about the domain of reason and observation in human life.
Musical selections in this podcast are drawn from the Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, op. 31a, composed by Paul Ben-Haim and performed by the ARC Ensemble.
The outstanding rabbinic authority and philosopher of the Middle Ages, Maimonides, was also a physician. After writing The Guide of the Perplexed, his great philosophical treatise, he turned his attention to composing works of medicine. He produced ten: On Hemorrhoids, On Cohabitation, On Asthma, On Poisons and Their Antidotes, Regimen of Health, On the Causes of Symptoms, Extracts from Galen, Medical Aphorisms, a Commentary on Hippocrates’ Aphorisms, and a Glossary of Drug Names.
In all of these, Maimonides is preoccupied with organizing, clarifying, simplifying vast expanses of text into usable guidelines. That’s one reason why the production of and instruction in aphorisms was so important for him—they were designed to be easy for physicians and their patients to remember. And there was a lot to remember. According to Maimonides, a doctor must know all about anatomy, symptoms, the health and sickness of the body and its parts, how to restore health when a person is sick, and food and diets, medicines, bathing, bandaging, and the various instruments that a medical doctor would need to use.
To get a sense of all this, the Maimonides expert Yehuda Halper sits down with host Jonathan Silver to focus on one particular medical work, Maimonides’s Commentary on Hippocrates’ Aphorisms. Many now will be familiar with Hippocrates because the popular Hippocratic oath that inducts physicians into their profession is attributed to him. But in Maimonides’ time, medical research often took the form of commentary on the ancient writings of Hippocrates. One of Hippocrates earliest and most authoritative commentators was Galen, an ancient Roman doctor, and in his commentary, Maimonides applies his reason and empirical experience in the medical field to both of them. Along the way, Halper, in the fourth and final episode in their mini-series on Maimonides, explains how Maimonides thinks about the nature of authority, about the role and also the limits of tradition, and about the domain of reason and observation in human life.
Musical selections in this podcast are drawn from the Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, op. 31a, composed by Paul Ben-Haim and performed by the ARC Ensemble.
Research Interests:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4kX3SxAoHBCw51cRpzksvx?si=8gxHlm_1SsiFL_9gsKoXDA This week, the Tikvah Podcast at Mosaic returns to the towering intellectual and religious sage of medieval Judaism, Moses Maimonides, the Rambam. In two... more
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4kX3SxAoHBCw51cRpzksvx?si=8gxHlm_1SsiFL_9gsKoXDA
This week, the Tikvah Podcast at Mosaic returns to the towering intellectual and religious sage of medieval Judaism, Moses Maimonides, the Rambam. In two previous conversations about his work, the professor of Judaism Yehuda Halper and podcast host Jonathan Silver focused on Maimonides’s Mishneh Torah, his code of law.
This week, the two turn from the Mishneh Torah to Maimonides’s philosophical magnum opus, Moreh ha Nevukhim, known in English as The Guide of the Perplexed. Whereas the Mishneh Torah leaves one with the impression that philosophy and law can be reconciled within the covenantal structure of an observant Jewish life, the emphasis in The Guide of the Perplexed is on the tensions, difficulties, and apparent contradictions between philosophy and law.
The Guide is one of the great books of Jewish philosophy, and it requires some preliminary introduction before anyone can seriously engage its questions. So this discussion is an orientation to the kind of study, the kind of person, and the kind of life that the Guide is written to instruct.
Musical selections in this podcast are drawn from the Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, op. 31a, composed by Paul Ben-Haim and performed by the ARC Ensemble.
This week, the Tikvah Podcast at Mosaic returns to the towering intellectual and religious sage of medieval Judaism, Moses Maimonides, the Rambam. In two previous conversations about his work, the professor of Judaism Yehuda Halper and podcast host Jonathan Silver focused on Maimonides’s Mishneh Torah, his code of law.
This week, the two turn from the Mishneh Torah to Maimonides’s philosophical magnum opus, Moreh ha Nevukhim, known in English as The Guide of the Perplexed. Whereas the Mishneh Torah leaves one with the impression that philosophy and law can be reconciled within the covenantal structure of an observant Jewish life, the emphasis in The Guide of the Perplexed is on the tensions, difficulties, and apparent contradictions between philosophy and law.
The Guide is one of the great books of Jewish philosophy, and it requires some preliminary introduction before anyone can seriously engage its questions. So this discussion is an orientation to the kind of study, the kind of person, and the kind of life that the Guide is written to instruct.
Musical selections in this podcast are drawn from the Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, op. 31a, composed by Paul Ben-Haim and performed by the ARC Ensemble.
Research Interests:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tikvah-podcast/id921756215?i=1000643008615 Recently, the Israeli professor of Jewish philosophy Yehuda Halper joined Mosaic editor Jonathan Silver to discuss Maimonides, the Rambam, perhaps the... more
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tikvah-podcast/id921756215?i=1000643008615
Recently, the Israeli professor of Jewish philosophy Yehuda Halper joined Mosaic editor Jonathan Silver to discuss Maimonides, the Rambam, perhaps the most significant medieval rabbinic sage and Jewish philosopher. They discussed Maimonides’s life and the main genres of his work—his commentary on Jewish law, his codification of Jewish law, his elaboration of philosophic mysteries that he believed are laden within the biblical and rabbinic corpus, his writings on science and medicine, and his views on the laws pertaining to Torah study.
Halper now returns for another conversation about Maimonides. This week, they look at “Hilchot De’ot,” a section of the Mishneh Torah, Maimonides’s great work on Jewish law, pertaining to the laws of character traits. In “Hilchot De’ot,” Maimonides introduced a portrait of the human condition, suggesting a moral psychology that can be assessed, trained, and elevated, and a description of the human person as an embodied being with a physical presence. There are profound philosophical and religious questions raised explicitly in this work, and even more profound ones residing just under the surface of the text.
Musical selections in this podcast are drawn from the Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, op. 31a, composed by Paul Ben-Haim and performed by the ARC Ensemble.
Recently, the Israeli professor of Jewish philosophy Yehuda Halper joined Mosaic editor Jonathan Silver to discuss Maimonides, the Rambam, perhaps the most significant medieval rabbinic sage and Jewish philosopher. They discussed Maimonides’s life and the main genres of his work—his commentary on Jewish law, his codification of Jewish law, his elaboration of philosophic mysteries that he believed are laden within the biblical and rabbinic corpus, his writings on science and medicine, and his views on the laws pertaining to Torah study.
Halper now returns for another conversation about Maimonides. This week, they look at “Hilchot De’ot,” a section of the Mishneh Torah, Maimonides’s great work on Jewish law, pertaining to the laws of character traits. In “Hilchot De’ot,” Maimonides introduced a portrait of the human condition, suggesting a moral psychology that can be assessed, trained, and elevated, and a description of the human person as an embodied being with a physical presence. There are profound philosophical and religious questions raised explicitly in this work, and even more profound ones residing just under the surface of the text.
Musical selections in this podcast are drawn from the Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, op. 31a, composed by Paul Ben-Haim and performed by the ARC Ensemble.
Research Interests:
2024 marks 820 years since the death of Maimonides in the Egyptian city of Fustat. The main focus of his writing falls in three categories. There's his commentary on the Mishnah and his code of Jewish law, the Mishneh Torah, a monumental... more
2024 marks 820 years since the death of Maimonides in the Egyptian city of Fustat. The main focus of his writing falls in three categories. There's his commentary on the Mishnah and his code of Jewish law, the Mishneh Torah, a monumental contribution to Jewish jurisprudence. His Guide of the Perplexed is a magnum opus of theological and philosophical puzzles and reflection. And his writings about science, health, and medicine are an expression of the expertise he developed in his career as a court physician in Egypt.
Today's episode is the first of a multi-episode mini-series on Maimonides featuring Yehuda Halper of Bar-Ilan University, among the most distinguished scholars today of medieval Jewish philosophy and medieval Islamic philosophy, in conversation with Mosaic editor Jonathan Silver. This week, they begin the series by looking at passages from the Mishneh Torah which describe the purview of Torah study.
Musical selections in this podcast are drawn from the Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, op. 31a, composed by Paul Ben-Haim and performed by the ARC Ensemble.
Today's episode is the first of a multi-episode mini-series on Maimonides featuring Yehuda Halper of Bar-Ilan University, among the most distinguished scholars today of medieval Jewish philosophy and medieval Islamic philosophy, in conversation with Mosaic editor Jonathan Silver. This week, they begin the series by looking at passages from the Mishneh Torah which describe the purview of Torah study.
Musical selections in this podcast are drawn from the Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, op. 31a, composed by Paul Ben-Haim and performed by the ARC Ensemble.
Research Interests:
KU Leuven, MeLO Seminar, 11 June 2021
Research Interests:
International Society for Socratic Studies,
Rice University, Houston, Texas
Virtual Socrates Colloquium 10.
September 30, 2020 at 11:00 am CT.
Rice University, Houston, Texas
Virtual Socrates Colloquium 10.
September 30, 2020 at 11:00 am CT.
Opening Lecture, "Nature and the Study of Nature among Aristotelians." Berlin, 28 July 2019 at the summer school "Structuring Nature. An Interdisciplinary and Intercultural Summer School" - https://structuringnature.wordpress.com/
Research Interests: Hebrew Literature, Philosophical Scepticism, Aristotle, Islamic Philosophy, Socrates, and 14 moreArabic Philosophy, Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Aristotelianism, Nicomachean Ethics, Averroism, Aristotle's Ethics, Renaissance Aristotelianism, Akrasia, Averroes, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Ancient Greek Philosophy / Aristotle, Medieval Arabic Philosophy, and Representations of Socrates(Arabic Philosophy, Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Aristotelianism, Nicomachean Ethics, Averroism, Aristotle's Ethics, Renaissance Aristotelianism, Akrasia, Averroes, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Ancient Greek Philosophy / Aristotle, Medieval Arabic Philosophy, and Representations of Socrates)
(Arabic Philosophy, Jewish Philosophy, Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Aristotelianism, Nicomachean Ethics, Averroism, Aristotle's Ethics, Renaissance Aristotelianism, Akrasia, Averroes, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), Ancient Greek Philosophy / Aristotle, Medieval Arabic Philosophy, and Representations of Socrates)
"Happiness in Medieval Philosophy", Conference in honor of Prof. Steven Harvey, December 14, 2017