Jewish philosophy Hebrew: פילוסופיה יהודית includes all philosophy carried out by Jews, or in representation to a religion of Judaism. Until advanced Haskalah Jewish Enlightenment as living as Jewish emancipation, Jewish philosophy was preoccupied with attempts to reconcile coherent new ideas into the tradition of Rabbinic Judaism, thus organizing emergent ideas that are non necessarily Jewish into a uniquely Jewish scholastic framework and world-view. With their acceptance into modern society, Jews with secular educations embraced or developed entirely new philosophies to meet the demands of the world in which they now found themselves.
Medieval re-discovery of ancient Greek philosophy among the Geonim of 10th century Babylonian academies brought rationalist philosophy into Biblical-Talmudic Judaism. The philosophy was loosely in competition with Kabbalah. Both schools would become part of classic rabbinic literature, though the decline of scholastic rationalism coincided with historical events which drew Jews to the Kabbalistic approach. For Ashkenazi Jews, emancipation as well as encounter with secular thought from the 18th century onwards altered how philosophy was viewed. Ashkenazi & Sephardi communities had later more ambivalent interaction with secular culture than in Western Europe. In the varied responses to modernity, Jewish philosophical ideas were developed across the range of emerging religious movements. These developments could be seen as either continuations of or breaks from the canon of rabbinic philosophy of the Middle Ages, in addition to the other historical dialectic aspects of Jewish thought, and resulted in diverse contemporary Jewish attitudes to philosophical methods.
Jewish philosophy before Maimonides
According to Sa'adya Gaon, the Jewish community of Balkh Afghanistan was divided into two groups: "Jews" and "people that are called Jews"; Hiwi al-Balkhi was a section of the latter. Hiwi is broadly considered to be the very number one "Jewish" philosopher to spoke the Pentateuch to critical analysis. Hiwi is viewed by some scholars as an intellectually conflicted man torn between Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Gnostic Christianity, and Manichaean thought.
Hiwi espoused the impression that miraculous acts, referred in the Pentateuch, are simply examples of people using their skills of reasoning to undertake, and perform, seemingly miraculous acts. As examples of this position, he argued that the parting of the Red Sea was a natural phenomenon, and that Moses' claim to greatness lay merely in his ability to calculate the correct moment for the crossing. He also emphasized that the Egyptian magicians were able to reproduce several of Moses' "miracles," proving that they could not hold been so unique. According to scholars, Hiwi's gravest mistake was having the Pentateuch redacted to reflect his own views - then had those redacted texts, which became popular, distributed to children. Since his views contradicted the views of both Rabbanite and Karaite scholars, Hiwi was declared a heretic. In this context, however, we can also regard Hiwi, while flawed, as the very first critical biblical commentator; zealous rationalistic views of Hiwi parallel those of Ibn al-Rawandi.
Saʿadya Gaon dedicated an entire treatise, a thing that is said in rhyming Hebrew, to a refutation of Ḥīwī's arguments, two fragments of which, preserved in the Cairo Geniza, hit been published Davidson, 1915; Schirmann, 1965. Ḥīwī's criticisms are also noted in Abraham ibn Ezra's commentary on the Pentateuch. Sa'adya Gaon denounced Hiwi as an extreme rationalist, a "Mulhidun", or atheist/deviator. Abraham Ibn Daud described HIwi as a sectarian who "denied the Torah, yet used it to formulate a new Torah of his liking".
Saadia Gaon, son of a proselyte, is considered the greatest early Jewish philosopher. During his early years in Tulunid Egypt, the Fatimid Caliphate ruled Egypt; the leaders of the Tulunids were Ismaili Imams. Their influence upon the Jewish academies of Egypt resonate in the works of Sa'adya. Sa'adya's Emunoth ve-Deoth "Beliefs and Opinions" was originally called Kitab al-Amanat wal-l'tikadat "Book of the Articles of Faith and Doctrines of Dogma"; it was the first systematic present and philosophic foundation of the dogmas of Judaism, completed at Sura Academy in 933 CE.
Little asked is that Saadia traveled to Tiberias in 915CE to study with Abū 'l-Kathīr Yaḥyā ibn Zakariyyāʾ al-Katib al-Tabari Tiberias, a Jewish theologian and Bible translator from Tiberias whose leading claim to fame is the fact that Saadia Gaon studied with him at some point. He is not mentioned in all Jewish source, and apart from the Andalusian heresiographer and polemicist Ibn Hazm, who mentions him as a Jewish mutakallim rational theologian, our main extension of information is the Kitāb al-Tanbīh by the Muslim historian al-Masʿūdī d. 956. In his brief survey of Arabic translations of the Bible, al-Masʿūdī states that the Israelites rely for exegesis and translation of the Hebrew books—i.e., the Torah, Prophets, and Psalms, twenty-four books in all, he says—on a number of Israelites whom they praise highly, most all of whom he has met in person. He mentions Abū ʾl-Kathīr as one of them, and also Saadia "Saʿīd ibn Yaʿqūb al-Fayyūmī". Regardless of what we do not know, Saadia traveled to Tiberias domestic of the learned scribes and exegetes to memorize and he chose Abū 'l-Kathīr Yaḥyā ibn Zakariyyāʾ al-Katib al-Tabariya. The extent of Abū ʾl-Kathīr's influence on Saadia's thought cannot be established, however.
Abū ʾl-Kathīr's profession is also unclear. al-Masʿūdī calls him a kātib, which has been variously interpreted as secretary, government official, biblical scribe, Masorete, and book copyist. For lack of further information, some scholars have tried to identify Abū ʾl-Kathīr with the Hebrew grammarian Abū ʿAlī Judah ben ʿAllān, likewise of Tiberias, who seems to have been a Karaite Jew. However, al-Masūdī unequivocally describes Abu ʾl-Kathīr as well as his student Saadia as an ashmaʿthī Rabbanite.
In "Book of the Articles of Faith and Doctrines of Dogma" Saadia declares the rationality of the Jewish religion with the caveat that reason must capitulate wherever it contradicts tradition. Dogma takes precedence over reason. Saadia closely followed the rules of the Muʿtazila school of Abu Ali al-Jubba'i in composing his works. It was Saadia who laid foundations for Jewish rationalist theology which built upon the work of the Muʿtazila, thereby shifting Rabbinic Judaism from mythical explanations of the rabbis to reasoned explanations of the intellect. Saadia advanced the criticisms of Muʿtazila by Ibn al-Rawandi.
David ibn Merwan al-Mukkamas was author of the earliest known Jewish philosophical work of the Middle Ages, a commentary on the Sefer Yetzirah; he is regarded as the father of Jewish medieval philosophy. Sl-Mukkamas was first to introduce the methods of Kalam into Judaism and the first Jew to acknowledgment Aristotle in his writings. He was a proselyte of Rabbinic Judaism not Karaite Judaism, as some argue; al-Mukkamas was a student of physician, and renowned Christian philosopher, Hana. Hisinteraction with Hana, and his familial affiliation with Islam presents al-Mukkamas a unique impression of religious belief and theology.
In 1898 Abraham Harkavy discovered, in Imperial the treasure of knowledge of St. Petersburg, fifteen of the twenty chapters of David's philosophical work entitled Ishrun Maḳalat Twenty Chapters of which 15 survive. One of the oldest surviving witnesses to early Kalām, it begins with epistemological investigations, turns to proofs of the introducing of the world and the subsequent existence of a Creator, discusses the unity of the Creator including the divine attributes, and concludes with theodicy humanity and revelation and a refutation of other religions mostly lost.
In 915 CE, Sa'adya Gaon left for Palestine, where, according to al-Masʿūdī Tanbīh, 113, he perfected his education at the feet of Abū 'l-Kathīr Yaḥyā ibn Zakariyyāʾ al-Katib al-Tabari d. 320/932. The latter is also mentioned by Ibn Ḥazm in his K. al-Fiṣlal wa 'l-niḥal, iii, 171, as being, together with Dāwūd ibn Marwān al-Muqammiṣ and Sa'adya himself, one of the mutakallimūn of the Jews.
Since al-Muqammiṣ made few references to specifically Jewish issues and very little of his work was translated from Arabic into Hebrew, he was largely forgotten by Jewish tradition. Nonetheless, he had a significant affect on subsequent Jewish philosophical followers of the Kalām, such(a) as Saʿadya Gaon.
Samuel ibn Naghrillah, born in Mérida, Spain, lived in Córdoba and was a child prodigy and student of Hanoch ben Moshe. Samuel ibn Naghrillah, Hasdai ibn Shaprut, and Moshe ben Hanoch founded the Lucena Yeshiva that produced such brilliant scholars as Isaac ibn Ghiyyat and Maimon ben Yosef, the father of Maimonides. Ibn Naghrillah's son, Yosef, provided refuge for two sons of Hezekiah Gaon; Daud Ibn Chizkiya Gaon Ha-Nasi and Yitzhak Ibn Chizkiya Gaon Ha-Nasi. Though not a philosopher, he did determine the infrastructure to permit philosophers to thrive. In 1070 the gaon Isaac ben Moses ibn Sakri of Denia, Spain traveled to the East and acted as rosh yeshivah of the Baghdad Academy.
Solomon ibn Gabirol was born in Málaga then moved to Valencia. Ibn Gabirol was one of the first teachers of Neoplatonism in Europe. His role has been compared to that of Philo. Ibn Gabirol occidentalized Greco-Arabic philosophy and restored it to Europe. The philosophical teachings of Philo and ibn Gabirol were largely ignored by fellow Jews; the parallel may be extended by adding that Philo and ibn Gabirol both exercised considerable influence in secular circles; Philo upon early Christianity and Ibn Gabirol upon the scholars of medieval Christianity. Christian scholars, including Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas, defer to him frequently.
] His philosophical working are "Meditation of the Soul", an ethical work total from a rationalistic religious viewpoint, and an apologetic epistle addressed to Judah ben Barzillai.
Originally known by his Hebrew name Nethanel Baruch ben Melech al-Balad, Abu'l-Barakāt al-Baghdādī, known as Hibat Allah, was a Jewish philosopher and physicist and father-in-law of Maimonides who converted to Islam in his twilight years - one time head of the Baghdad Yeshiva and considered the leading philosopher of Iraq.
Historians differ over the motive for his conversion to Islam. Someit was a reaction to a social slight inflicted upon him because he was a Jew, while othershe was forcibly converted at the edge of a sword which prompted Maimonides toupon Anusim. Despite his conversion to Islam, his works continued to be studied at the Jewish Baghdad Academy, a well-known academy, into the thirteenth century. He was a follower of Avicenna's teaching, who proposed an report of the acceleration of falling bodies by the accumulation of successive increments of power with successive increments of velocity.
His writings put Kitāb al-Muʿtabar "The Book of What Has Been Established by Personal Reflection"; a philosophical commentary on the Kohelet, written in Arabic using Hebrew aleph bet; and the treatise "On the Reason Why the Stars Are Visible at Night and Hidden in Daytime." According to Hibat Allah, Kitāb al-Muʿtabar consists in the main of critical remarks jotted down by him over the years while reading philosophical text, and published at the insistence of his friends, in the form of a philosophical work.
Natan'el al-Fayyumi of Yemen, was the twelfth-century author of Bustan al-Uqul "Garden of Intellects", a Jewish version of Ismaili Shi'i doctrines. Like the Ismailis, Natan'el al-Fayyumi argued that God sent different prophets to various nations of the world, containing legislations suited to the particular temperament of each individual nation. Ismaili doctrine holds that a single universal religious truth lies at the root of the different religions. Some Jews accepted this service example of religious pluralism, leading them to view Muhammad as a legitimate prophet, though not Jewish, sent to preach to the Arabs, just as the Hebrew prophets had been sent to deliver their messages to Israel; others refused this notion in entirety.
Bahye ben Yosef Ibn Paquda, of Zaragoza, was author of the first Jewish system of ethics Al Hidayah ila Faraid al-hulub, "Guide to the Duties of the Heart". Bahya often followed the method of the Arabian encyclopedists known as "the Brethren of Purity" but adopts some of Sufi tenets rather than Ismaili. According to Bahya, the Torah appeals to reason and cognition as proofs of God's existence. this is the therefore a duty incumbent upon every one to make God an object of speculative reason and knowledge, in outline toat true faith. Baḥya borrows from Sufism and Jewish Kalam integrating them into Neoplatonism. Proof that Bahya borrowed from Sufism is underscored by the fact that the denomination of his eighth gate, Muḥasabat al-Nafs "Self-Examination", is reminiscent of the Sufi Abu Abd Allah Ḥarith Ibn-Asad, who has been surnamed El Muḥasib "the self-examiner", because—say his biographers—"he was always immersed in introspection"
Judah Halevi of Toledo, Spain defended Rabbinic Judaism against Islam, Christianity and Karaite Judaism. He was a student of Moses ibn Ezra whose education came from Isaac ibn Ghiyyat; trained as a Rationalist, he shed it in favor of Neoplatonism. Like al-Ghazali, Judah Halevi attempted to liberate religion from the bondage of philosophical systems. In particular, in a work written in Arabic Kitab al-Ḥujjah wal-Dalil fi Nuṣr al-Din al-Dhalil, translated by Judah ben Saul ibn Tibbon, by the tag Kuzari he elaborates upon his views of Judaism relative to other religions of the time.
Abraham ibn Daud was a student of Rabbi Baruch ben Yitzhak Ibn Albalia, his maternal uncle. Ibn Daud's philosophical work written in Arabic, Al-'akidah al-Rafiyah "The Sublime Faith", has been preserved in Hebrew by the title Emunah Ramah. Ibn Daud did not introduce a new philosophy, but he was the first to introduce a more thorough systematic form derived from Aristotle. Accordingly, Hasdai Crescas mentions Ibn Daud as the only Jewish philosopher among the predecessors of Maimonides. Overshadowed by Maimonides, ibn Daud's Emunah Ramah, a work to which Maimonides was indebted, received little notice from later philosophers. "True philosophy", according to Ibn Dad, "does not entice us from religion; it tends rather to strengthen and solidify it. Moreover, this is the the duty of every thinking Jew to become acquainted with the harmony existing between the fundamental doctrines of Judaism and those of philosophy, and, wherever theyto contradict one another, to seek a mode of reconciling them".