Description
Book SynopsisThis book provides a standard reference of the major medieval Jewish philosophers, as well as an eminently readable narrative of the course of medieval Jewish philosophical thought, presented as a response to the spiritual-intellectual challenges facing Judaism in that period. The accounts of Saadia, Bahya, Halevi, Maimonides, and Crescas are among the fullest available in English. Other thinkers discussed in depth include Israeli, Ibn Gabirol, Gersonides, and Albo; the work also includes capsule summaries of Bar Hiyya, Falaquera, Albalag, Duran, Abravanel and others. All of the summaries place the philosophical thought of these important thinkers in the context of the historical challenges and religious concerns of their age.
Table of ContentsCONTENTS Introduction PART ONE THE EARLY MASTERS: FROM SAADIA TO HALEVI Chapter One R. Saadia Gaon Chapter Two R. Isaac ben Solomon Israeli Chapter Three R. Baḥya ben Joseph Ibn Pakudah Chapter 4 R. Solomon Ibn Gabirol Chapter Five R. Abraham Bar Ḥiyya Chapter Six R. Judah Halevi PART TWO MAIMONIDES Chapter Seven Maimonides’s Personality & Oeuvre Chapter Eight Maimonides’s Earlier Philosophical Writings—The Introductions to the Mishnah Chapter Nine Maimonides’ Politics, Psychology & Ethics Chapter Ten Maimonides’s Theory of Prophecy Chapter Eleven Foundations of Maimonides’s Theology Chapter Twelve Creation and Providence in Maimonides Chapter Thirteen Summary of Maimonidean Thought PART THREE THE LATER MASTERS: CONTINUATION AND TRANSITION Chapter Fourteen The Maimonidean Controversy Chapter Fifteen Transformations in Aristotelian Philosophy Chapter Sixteen Gersonides Chapter Seventeen R. Ḥasdai Crescas Chapter Eighteen R. Joseph Albo Chapter Nineteen The Turn To Cultural Thought Chapter Twenty From Spain to Italy
