the cambridge companion to MEDIEVAL JEWISH PHILOSOPHY From the ninth to the fifteenth centuries Jewish thinkers living in Islamic and Christian lands philosophized about Judaism.InfluencedfirstbyIslamictheologicalspeculation andthegreatphilosophersofclassicalantiquity,andthenin thelatemedievalperiodbyChristianScholasticism,Jewish philosophers and scientists reflected on the nature of lan- guageaboutGod,thescopeandlimitsofhumanunderstand- ing, the eternity or createdness of the world, prophecy and divineprovidence,thepossibilityofhumanfreedom,andthe relationship between divine and human law. Though many viewedphilosophyasadangerousthreat,othersincorporated it into their understanding of what it is to be a Jew. This Companion presents all the major Jewish thinkers of the period, the philosophical and non-philosophical contexts of theirthought,andtheinteractionsbetweenJewishandnon- Jewishphilosophers.Itisacomprehensiveintroductiontoa vitalperiodofJewishintellectualhistory. Daniel H. Frank is Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Judaic Studies Program at the University of Kentucky. AmongrecentpublicationsareHistoryofJewishPhilosophy (edited with Oliver Leaman, 1997), The Jewish Philosophy Reader (edited with Oliver Leaman and Charles Manekin, 2000),andrevisededitionsoftwoJewishphilosophicalclas- sics,Maimonides’GuideofthePerplexed(1995)andSaadya Gaon’sBookofDoctrinesandBeliefs(2002). OliverLeamanisProfessorofPhilosophyandZantkerProfes- sorofJudaicStudiesattheUniversityofKentucky.Heisthe author of An Introduction to Classical Islamic Philosophy (2002),EvilandSufferinginJewishPhilosophy(1995),andis editorofEncyclopediaofAsianPhilosophy(2001)andCom- panion Encyclopedia of Middle Eastern and North African Film (2001). He is co-editor, with Glennys Howarth, of En- cyclopediaofDeathandDying(2001). volumesintheseriesofcambridgecompanions AQUINAS Editedbynorman kretzmann and eleonore stump HANNAH ARENDT Editedbydana villa ARISTOTLE Editedbyjonathan barnes AUGUSTINE Editedbyeleonore stump and norman kretzmann BACON Editedbymarkku peltonen SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR Editedbyclaudia card DARWIN Editedbyjonathan hodge and gregory radick DESCARTES Editedbyjohn cottingham DUNS SCOTUS Editedbythomas williams EARLY GREEK PHILOSOPHY Editedbya. a. long FEMINISM IN PHILOSOPHY Editedbymiranda fricker andjennifer hornsby FOUCAULT Editedbygary gutting FREUD Editedbyjerome neu GADAMER Editedbyrobert j. dostal GALILEO Editedbypeter machamer GERMAN IDEALISM Editedbykarl ameriks HABERMAS Editedbystephen k. white HEGEL Editedbyfrederick beiser HEIDEGGER Editedbycharles guignon HOBBES Editedbytom sorell HUME Editedbydavid fate norton HUSSERL Editedbybarry smith anddavid woodruff smith WILLIAM JAMES Editedbyruth anna putnam KANT Editedbypaul guyer KIERKEGAARD Editedbyalastair hannay and gordon marino LEIBNIZ Editedbynicholas jolley LEVINAS Editedbysimon critchley androbert bernasconi LOCKE Editedbyvere chappell MALEBRANCHE Editedbystephen nadler MARX Editedbyterrell carver MEDIEVAL JEWISH PHILOSOPHY Editedby daniel h. frank andoliver leaman MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY Editedbya. s. mcgrade MILL Editedbyjohn skorupski NEWTON Editedbyi. bernard cohen and george e. smith NIETZSCHE Editedbybernd magnus andkathleen higgins OCKHAM Editedbypaul vincent spade PASCAL Editedbynicholas hammond PLATO Editedbyrichard kraut PLOTINUS Editedbylloyd p. gerson ROUSSEAU Editedbypatrick riley SARTRE Editedbychristina howells SCHOPENHAUER Editedbychristopher janaway THE SCOTTISH ENLIGHTENMENT Editedby alexander i. broadie SPINOZA Editedbydon garrett WITTGENSTEIN Editedbyhans sluga and david stern The Cambridge Companion to MEDIEVAL JEWISH PHILOSOPHY Edited by Daniel H. Frank and Oliver Leaman UniversityofKentucky CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521652070 © Cambridge University Press 2003 This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2003 A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data The Cambridge companion to medieval Jewish philosophy / edited by Daniel H. Frank and Oliver Leaman. p. cm. – (Cambridge companions to philosophy) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0 521 65207 3 – ISBN 0 521 65574 9 (paperback) 1. Philosophy, Jewish. 2. Philosophy, Medieval. 3. Judaism–History–Medieval and early modern period, 425–1789. I. Frank, Daniel H., 1950– II. Leaman, Oliver, 1950– III. Series. B755.C36 2003 181´.06 – dc21 2003041200 ISBN-13 978-0-521-65207-0 hardback ISBN-10 0-521-65207-3 hardback ISBN-13 978-0-521-65574-3 paperback ISBN-10 0-521-65574-9 paperback Transferred to digital printing 2005 contents List of contributors page x Preface xv Chronology xvii Note on transliteration xxi Glossary xxii PARTI BACKGROUNDANDCONTEXT 1 Introduction to the study of medieval Jewish philosophy 3 oliver leaman 2 Thebiblicalandrabbinicbackgroundtomedieval Jewish philosophy 16 david shatz 3 The Islamic context of medieval Jewish philosophy 38 joel l. kraemer PARTII IDEAS,WORKS,ANDWRITERS 4 Saadya and Jewish kalam 71 sarah stroumsa 5 Jewish Neoplatonism: Being above Being and divine emanation in Solomon ibn Gabirol and Isaac Israeli 91 sarah pessin vii viii Contents 6 Judah Halevi and his use of philosophy in the Kuzari 111 barry s. kogan 7 Maimonides and medieval Jewish Aristotelianism 136 daniel h. frank 8 Maimonides and the sciences 157 tzvi langermann 9 Medieval Jewish political thought 176 menachem lorberbaum 10 Judaism and Sufism 201 paul b. fenton 11 Philosophy and kabbalah: 1200–1600 218 hava tirosh-samuelson 12 Arabic into Hebrew: The Hebrew translation movement and the influence of Averroes upon medieval Jewish thought 258 steven harvey 13 Philosophy in southern France: Controversy over philosophic study and the influence of Averroes upon Jewish thought 281 gregg stern 14 Conservative tendencies in Gersonides’ religious philosophy 304 charles h. manekin PARTIII THELATERYEARS 15 The impact of Scholasticism upon Jewish philosophy in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries 345 t. m. rudavsky 16 Jewish philosophy and the Jewish–Christian philosophical dialogue in fifteenth-century Spain 371 ari ackerman Contents ix 17 Hasdai Crescas and anti-Aristotelianism 391 james t. robinson 18 The end and aftereffects of medieval Jewish philosophy 414 seymour feldman Guide to further reading in English 446 Index 464