Medieval Jewish Philosophy and Its Literary Forms

374 Pages·2019·11.951 MB·English

by  Aaron Hughes, James T. Robinson

MEDIEVAL JEWISH PHILOSOPHY
AND ITS LITERARY FORMS
NEW JEWISH PHILOSOPHY AND THOUGHT
Zachary J. Braiterman
M EDIE VA L
J E W ISH
NEW JEWISH PHILOSOPHY AND THOUGHT
P HILOSOPH Y
Zachary J. Braiterman
A N D IT S
L ITER A RY FOR M S
Edited by Aaron W. Hughes and
James T. Robinson
INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS
This book is a publication of
Indiana University Press
Office of Scholarly Publishing
Herman B Wells Library 350
1320 East 10th Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA
iupress.indiana.edu
© 2019 by Indiana University Press
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by
any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publisher. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum
requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—
Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Names: Hughes, Aaron W., [date] editor.
Title: Medieval Jewish philosophy and its literary forms /
edited by Aaron W. Hughes and James T. Robinson.
Description: Bloomington : Indiana University Press, 2019. |
Series: New Jewish philosophy and thought | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018049717 (print) | LCCN 2019014651 (ebook) | ISBN
9780253042552 (e-book) | ISBN 9780253042514
(cl : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780253042521 (pb : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Jewish philosophy—History. | Philosophy, Medieval.
Classification: LCC B755 (ebook) | LCC B755 .M435 2019 (print) |
DDC 181/.06—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018049717
1 2 3 4 5 24 23 22 21 20 19
To the memory of our beloved colleague,
Kalman P. Bland (1942–2017)

CONTENTS
Introduction / Aaron W. Hughes and
James T. Robinson 1
1 Animal Fables and Medieval Jewish Philosophy /
Kalman P. Bland, z’l 8
2 Biblical Commentaries as a Genre of Jewish Philosophical
Writing / Raphael Dascalu 40
3 Commentaries on The Guide of the Perplexed:
A Brief Literary History / Igor H. de Souza 79
4 Philosophical Commentary and Supercommentary:
The Hebrew Aristotelian Commentaries of the Fourteenth
through Sixteenth Centuries / Yehuda Halper 104
5 The Author’s Haqdamah as a Literary Form in Jewish
Thought / Steven Harvey 133
6 Does Judaism Make Sense? Early Medieval Kalam as
Literature / Gyongyi Hegedus 161
7 Dialogues / Aaron W. Hughes 185
8 Poetry / Aaron W. Hughes 213
9 Poetic Summaries of Scientific and Philosophical Works /
Maud Kozodoy 238
10 The Philosophical Epistle as a Genre of Medieval Jewish
Philosophy / Charles H. Manekin 264
viii | Contents
11 The Sermon in Late Medieval Jewish Thought as Method for
Popularizing Philosophy / Chaim Meir Neria 288
12 Lexicons and Lexicography in Medieval Jewish Philosophy /
James T. Robinson 313
13 Theological Summas in Late Medieval Jewish Philosophy /
Shira Weiss 337
Index 359
MEDIEVAL JEWISH PHILOSOPHY
AND ITS LITERARY FORMS