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

This volume surveys the history of Jewish philosophy from antiquity to the early modern period.

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.

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.

This volume surveys the history of Jewish philosophy from antiquity to the early modern period, with an emphasis on medieval Jewish thought. Unlike other reference works, this volume is organized by topic rather than chronology. It includes contributions from leading scholars in the field.

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.