Annotation
The main topic of the seminar will be the question of what is "Jewish" philosophy and what are typically "Jewish" themes in the Medieval philosophy. This course is suitable for all students of master's and bachelor's programmes in philosophy. Students of other programmes are also welcome, but should be aware that the course may assume some basic knowledge of Ancient philosophy, in particular Aristotle´s works.
Themes and figures:
Saadia ben Joseph: historical role of gaonim, human soul and comparative psychology.
Salomon ibn Gabirol: neo-platonic influence, theory of universal matter and form, structure of geocentric universe.
Judah Halevi: poet and critic of (peripatetic) philosophy, divine order and elite of mankind.
Maimonides: whom is the Guide addressed to and what is it about, reception of Aristotelian ethics, extremes of the middle way.
Primary texts:
Saadia Gaon, Book of Beliefs and Opinions, tr. S. Rosenblatt, Yale University Press, 19762.
Judah Halevi, The Kuzari, tr. H. Hirschfeld, Schocken Books, New York, 1964.
Salomon ibn Gabirol, The Fountain of Life, tr. A.B. Jacob, Aries, 1987.
Salomon ibn Gabirol, The Kingly Crown, tr. B. Lewis, University of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame, Indiana, 2002.
Maimonides, Mishneh Torah,tr. E. Touger, Moznaim, Jerusalem, 1989-1993
Maimonides, Guide for the Perplexed, tr. S. Pines, University of Chicago Press, 1963.
All the course texts will be made available in PDF format.
Secondary literature:
Seyyed Hossein Nasr and Oliver Leaman, History of Islamic Philosophy, Routledge, 2001.
Oliver Leaman, An Introduction to Medieval Islamic Philosophy, Cambridge University Press, 1992.
Isaak Husik, A History of Mediaeval Jewish Philosophy, NY, 1969.
The Jewish Philosophy Reader, ed. by D.H. Frank, O. Leaman a Ch.H. Manekin, Routledge, NY, 2000.
Goitein, Mediterranean Society, The Jewish Communities of the World as Portrayed in the Documents of the Cairo Geniza, University of California Press, 2000, vol. 1-6.
In order to gain credits for the course, students must meet the following requirements: a) Attendance at the seminar. More than four absences will mean that one is ineligible for the grade. b) A short essay of 2,500 words on a subject from the course. Its title and topic should be approved by the teacher before the student begins writing.