The Cambridge History of Jewish Philosophy: From Antiquity through the Seventeenth Century

by Steven Nadler, T. M. Rudavsky

Overview

The first volume in this comprehensive work is an exploration of the history of Jewish philosophy from its beginnings in antiquity to the early modern period, with a particular emphasis on medieval Jewish thought. Unlike most histories, encyclopedias, guides, or companions of Jewish philosophy, this volume is organized by philosophical topic rather than by chronology or individual figures. There are sections on logic and language; natural philosophy; epistemology, philosophy of mind, and psychology; metaphysics and philosophical theology; and practical philosophy. There are also chapters on the intellectual background of Jewish philosophy, including Islamic and Greek thought and the Jewish philosophical textual traditions. With essays by leading scholars in the field, this volume provides the reader with a wonderful overview of the richness and sophistication of Jewish philosophy in its golden age.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521843232
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	12/15/2008
Series:	Cambridge History of Jewish Philosophy
Pages:	916
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.90(d)

About the Author

Steven Nadler is William H. Hay II Professor of Philosophy and Max and Frieda Weinstein/Bascom Professor of Jewish Studies at University of Wisconsin–Madison. He is author of Spinoza's Ethics: An Introduction (Cambridge University Press, 2006); Rembrandt's Jews (2003), which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; Spinoza's Heresy: Immortality and the Jewish Mind (2002); and Spinoza: A Life (Cambridge University Press, 1999), which won the Koret Jewish Book Award.

T. M. Rudavsky is Professor of Philosophy at The Ohio State University. She is author of Time Matters: Time and Cosmology in Medieval Jewish Philosophy (2000). She is editor of Divine Omniscience and Omnipotence in Medieval Philosophy: Islamic, Jewish, and Christian Perspectives (1984) and Gender and Judaism: Tradition and Transformation (1995). Until June 2006, she was Director of the OSU Melton Center for Jewish Studies.

Table of Contents

Introduction Steven Nadler and T. M. Rudavsky; Part I. Texts and Contexts: 1. The Greek background Kenneth Seeskin; 2. The Muslim context Sarah Stroumsa; 3. Textual traditions Mauro Zonta; 4. Philosophical interpretations of the Bible Howard Kreisel; 5. Mysticism and philosophy Micah Gottlieb; Part II. Logic and Language: 6. Proposition and judgment Charles H. Manekin; 7. Reasoning and demonstration Norbert M. Samuelson; 8. Meaning and language Josef Stern; Part III. Natural Philosophy: 9. Matter, form, and the corporeal world Sarah Pessin; 10. Cosmology: the heavenly bodies Gad Freudenthal; 11. Miracles Ari Ackerman; 12. Time, space, and infinity T. M. Rudavsky; 13. Exhalations and other meteorological themes Resianne Fontaine; Part IV. Epistemology and Psychology: 14. Belief, knowledge, and certainty Idit Dobbs-Weinstein; 15. Understanding prophecy: four traditions Barry S. Kogan; 16. Intellect and soul James T. Robinson; Part V. Metaphysics and Philosophical Theology: 17. God's existence and attributes Carlos Fraenkel; 18. Creation and emanation Lenn E. Goodman; 19. Theodicy and providence Steven Nadler; 20. Divine omnipotence, omniscience, and human freedom Seymour Feldman; Part VI. Practical Philosophy: 21. Virtue and happiness Hava Tirosh-Samuelson; 22. Politics and the state Abraham Melamed; 23. Divine law and human practices Daniel H. Frank.

Editorial Reviews

"This excellent collection of essays by 23 leading scholars explores the history of Jewish philosophy from antiquity (Philo) to the early modern period (Spinoza). Emphasis is on the golden age of medieval Jewish thought, with its interplay within rabbinic textual traditions and in the context of its intellectual background of Greek and Arabic thought. Distinguishing it from similar guides is its thematic orientation organized according to philsophic categories, e.g., metaphysics, epistemology, and political philosophy...Highly recommended."
—Choice

From the Publisher