Seek the Truth From Whoever Says It
-- Moses Maimonides (1138-1204)
The course will examine three hundred years of Jewish philosophy from Maimonides to the expulsion of the Jews from Spain . Attention will be paid to Maimonides and the post-Maimonidean thinkers Abner of Burgos, Moses of Narbonne, Levi Gersonides, Hasdai Crescas, and Joseph Albo. Topics to be discussed will be: the existence of God, creation, providence, prophecy, free will, and Divine knowledge. Of special interest will be the increasing influence of Christian philosophy on Jewish philosophy during this period.
To explore intensively a much-neglected area in the history of philosophy, the encounter between Jews and philosophy in the Middle Ages. The course takes a historical and and analytical approach, with much emphasis on Jewish philosophy in its intellectual and historical context..
1. Moses Maimonides, The Guide of the Perplexed, trans. S. Pines, University of Chicago Press; 2) Charles H. Manekin, On Maimonides (Wadsworth); 3) Levi ben Gershom (Gersonides), The Wars of the Lord. Bks. 2-4, ed. S. Feldman (Jewish Pub. Society); 4) Colette Sirat, A History of Jewish Philosophy in the Middle Ages (Cambridge UP)
Optional: The Jewish Philosophy Reader, ed. Daniel H. Frank, Oliver Leaman, Charles H. Manekin. New York/Routledge: 2000.
One long (10-15 pages) paper on Maimonides; two short (3-4 pages) papers on assigned topics, and a final take-home examination (approx. 10 pages.)
See the Best Rambam Bibliography Out There, by Menachem Kellner
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Charles H. Manekin 215-238-1290, ext. 411 manekinc@umd.edu
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