~~~~~~ World Bibliography of Beliefs, Theories and Theologies ~ click pix to enlarge ~~~~~~

Jewish philosophy refers to the conjunction between serious study of philosophy and Jewish theology.

Ancient Jewish philosophy

Philo of Alexandria

Philo of Alexandria (20 BCE - 40 CE) was a Hellenized Jewish philosopher born in Alexandria, Egypt.

Philo included in his philosophy both the wisdom of Ancient Greece and Judaism, which he sought to fuse and harmonize by means of the art of allegory that he had learned as much from Jewish exegesis as from the Stoics. His work was not widely accepted. Philo made his philosophy the means of defending and justifying Jewish religious truths. These truths he regarded as fixed and determinate; and philosophy was used as an aid to truth, and as a means of arriving at it. With this end in view Philo chose from the philosophical tenets of the Greeks, refusing those that did not harmonize with the Jewish religion, as, e.g., the Aristotelian doctrine of the eternity and indestructibility of the world.

Medieval Jewish philosophy

Further information: Judeo-Islamic philosophies (800 - 1400) Early Jewish philosophy was heavily influenced by the philosophy of Plato, Aristotle and Islamic philosophy. Many early medieval Jewish philosophers (from the 8th century to end of the 9th century) were especially influenced by the Islamic Mutazilite philosophers; they denied all limiting attributes of God and were champions of God’s unity and justice.

A path towards synthesis is to apply analytical philosophy to one’s own religion in order to strengthen the basis of that faith. Among Jewish thinkers who had this view one may note Saadia Gaon, Gersonides, and Abraham Ibn Daud. In this latter case a religious person would also be a philosopher, by asking questions such as:

What is the nature of God? How do we know that God exists? 
What is the nature of revelation? How do we know that God reveals his will to mankind? 
Which of our religious traditions must be interpreted literally? 
Which of our religious traditions must be interpreted allegorically? 
What must one actually believe to be considered a true adherent of our religion? 
How can one reconcile the findings of philosophy with religion? 
How can one reconcile the findings of science with religion? 
According to some views, this may perhaps be the task of Jewish philosophy, but there is no way to end 
the debate conclusively. Over time Aristotle came to be thought of as the philosopher par excellence 
among Jewish thinkers. This tendency was no less marked in the Islamic, the Christian Byzantine and the 
Latin-Christian schools of thought.

Saadia Gaon

Saadia Gaon (892-942) is considered one of the greatest of the early Jewish philosophers. His Emunoth ve-Deoth was originally called Kitab al-Amanat wal-l’tikadat, the "Book of the Articles of Faith and Doctrines of Dogma". It was the first systematic presentation and philosophic foundation of the dogmas of Judaism, completed in 933.

In it he posits the rationality of the Jewish faith, with the restriction that reason must capitulate wherever it contradicts tradition. Dogma must take precedence of reason. Thus in the question concerning the eternity of the world, reason teaches since Aristotle, that the world is without beginning; that it was not created; in contrast, Jewish dogma asserts a creation out of nothing. Since the time of Aristotle it was held that logical reasoning could only prove the existence of a general form of immortality, and that no form of individual immortality could exist. Mainstream Jewish dogma, in contrast, maintained the immortality of the individual. Reason, therefore, must give way in Saadia’s view.

In the scheme of his work Saadia closely followed the rules of the Mutazilites (the rationalistic dogmatists of Islam, to whom he owed in part also his thesis and arguments), adhering most frequently to the Mutazilite school of Al-Jubbai. He followed the Mutazilite Kalam, especially in this respect, that in the first two sections he discussed the metaphysical problems of the creation of the world (i.) and the unity of God (ii.), while in the following sections he treated of the Jewish theory of revelation (iii.) and of the doctrines of belief based upon divine justice, including obedience and disobedience (iv.), as well as merit and demerit (v.). Closely connected with these sections are those which treat of the soul and of death (vi.), and of the resurrection of the dead (vii.), which, according to the author, forms part of the theory of the Messianic redemption (viii.). The work concludes with a section on the rewards and punishments of the future life (ix.)

Avicebron, Solomon ibn Gabirol

The Jewish poet-philosopher Solomon Ibn Gabirol is also known as Avicebron. He died about 1070 CE. He was influenced by Plato. His classic work on philosophy was Mekor Chayim, "The Source of Life". His work on ethics is entitled Tikkun Middot HaNefesh, "Correcting the Qualities of the Soul".

In Gabirol’s work Plato is the only philosopher referred to by name. Characteristic of the philosophy of both is the conception of a Middle Being between God and the world, between species and individual. Aristotle had already formulated the objection to the Platonic theory of ideas, that it lacked an intermediary or third being between God and the universe, between form and matter. This "third man," this link between incorporeal substances (ideas) and idealess bodies (matter), is, with Philo, the Logos; with Gabirol it is the divine will. Philo gives the problem an intellectual aspect; while Gabirol conceives it as a matter of volition, approximating thus to such modern thinkers as Schopenhauer and Wundt.

Gabirol was one of the first teachers of Neoplatonism in Europe. His role has been compared to that of Philo. Philo had served as the intermediary between Greek philosophy and the Oriental world; a thousand years later Gabirol occidentalized Greco-Arabic philosophy and restored it to Europe. The philosophical teachings of Philo and Ibn Gabirol were largely ignored by their fellow Jews; the parallel may be extended by adding that Philo and Gabirol alike exercised a considerable influence in extra-Jewish circles: Philo upon early Christianity, and Ibn Gabirol upon the scholasticism of medieval Christianity.

Gabirol’s philosophy made little impression on later Jewish philosophers. His greatest impact is in the area of the Jewish liturgy. His work is quoted by Moses ibn Ezra and Abraham ibn Ezra. Christian scholastics, including Albertus Magnus and his pupil, Thomas Aquinas, defer to him frequently and gratefully.

Karaite philosophy

A sect which rejects the Rabbinical Works, Karaism, developed its own form of philosophy, a Jewish version of the Islamic Kalâm. Early Karaites based their philosophy on the Islamic Motazilite Kalâm; some later Karaites, such as Aaron ben Elijah of Nicomedia (fourteenth century), reverts, in his Etz Hayyim (Hebrew, "Tree of Life") to the views of Aristotle.

Bahya ibn Paquda’s Duties of the Heart

Bahya ibn Paquda lived in Spain in the first half of the eleventh century. He was the author of the first Jewish system of ethics, written in Arabic in 1040 under the title Al Hidayah ila Faraid al-hulub, "Guide to the Duties of the Heart", and translated into Hebrew by Judah ben Saul ibn Tibbon in 1161-1180 under the title Chovot ha-Levavot, ’Duties of the Heart’.

Though he quotes Saadia Gaon’s works frequently, he belongs not to the rationalistic school of the Motazilites whom Saadia follows, but, like his somewhat younger contemporary, Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021-1070), is an adherent of Neoplatonic mysticism. He often followed the method of the Arabian encyclopedists known as "the Brothers of Purity," Inclined to contemplative mysticism and asceticism, Bahya eliminated from his system every element that he felt might obscure monotheism, or might interfere with Jewish law. He wanted to present a religious system at once lofty and pure and in full accord with reason.

Yehuda Halevi and the Kuzari

The Jewish poet-philosopher Yehuda Halevi (twelfth century) in his polemical work Kuzari made strenuous arguments against philosophy. He became thus the Jewish Al-gazali, whose Destructio Philosophorum was perhaps the model for the Kuzari.

Human reason on a surface level is considered false and illusory; rather inward illumination based on truths instilled by G-d in the human soul is considered paramount. The Kuzari describes representatives of different religions and of philosophy disputing before the king of the Khazars concerning the respective merits of the systems they stand for, the victory being ultimately awarded to Judaism.

The rise of Aristotelian thought

Judah ha-Levi could not bar the progress of Aristotelianism among the Arabic-writing Jews. As among the Arabs, Ibn Sina and Ibn Rushd leaned more and more on Aristotle, so among the Jews did Abraham ibn Daud and Maimonides.

Rabbi Levi ben Gershon, also known as Gersonides, or the Ralbag, (1288-1345) is best known for his work Milhamot HaShem (or just Milchamot), ("Wars of the Lord"). Among scholastics, Gersonides was perhaps the most advanced; he placed reason above tradition. The Milhamot HaShem is modelled after the Guide for the Perplexed of Maimonides. It may be seen as an elaborate criticism from a philosophical point of view (mainly Averroistic) of the syncretism of Aristotelianism and Jewish orthodoxy as presented in that work.

Hasdai Crescas (1340-1410) is best known for his Or Hashem ("Light of the Lord"). Crescas’ avowed purpose was to liberate Judaism from what he saw as the bondage of Aristotelianism, which, through Maimonides, influenced by Ibn Sina, and Gersonides (Ralbag), influenced by Ibn Roshd (Averroes) threatened to blur the distinctness of the Jewish faith, reducing the doctrinal contents of Judaism to a surrogate of Aristotelian concepts. His book, Or Hashem, comprises four main divisions (ma’amar), subdivided into kelalim and chapters (perakim): the first treating of the foundation of all belief-the existence of God; the second, of the fundamental doctrines of the faith; the third, of other doctrines which, though not fundamental, are binding on every adherent of Judaism; the fourth, of doctrines which, though traditional, are without obligatory character, and which are open to philosophical construction.

Joseph Albo was a Spanish rabbi, and theologian of the fifteenth century, known chiefly as the author of the work on the Jewish principles of faith, his Ikkarim. Albo limited the fundamental Jewish principles of faith to three: (1) The belief in the existence of God; (2) in revelation; and (3) in divine justice, as related to the idea of immortality. Albo finds opportunity to criticize the opinions of his predecessors, yet he takes pains to avoid heresy hunting. A remarkable latitude of interpretation is allowed; so much so, that it would indeed be difficult under Albo’s theories to impugn the orthodoxy of even the most theologically liberal Jews. Albo rejects the assumption that creation ex nihilo is an essential implication of the belief in God. Albo freely criticizes Maimonides’ thirteen principles of belief and Crescas’ six principles.

Maimonides

Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon (1135 - 1204), ? ? , known commonly by his Greek name Maimonides, was a Jewish rabbi, physician, and philosopher.

Maimonides held that no positive attributes can be predicated to God. The number of His attributes would seem to prejudice the unity of God. In order to preserve this doctrine undiminished, all anthropomorphic attributes, such as existence, life, power, will, knowledge - the usual positive attributes of God in the Kalâm - must be avoided in speaking of Him. Between the attributes of God and those of man there is no other similarity than one of words (homonymy), no similarity of essence ("Guide," I 35, 56). The negative attributes imply that nothing can be known concerning the true being of God, which is what Maimonides really means. Just as Kant declares the Thing-in-itself to be unknowable, so Maimonides declares that of God it can only be said that He is, not what He is.

Maimonides wrote his thirteen principles of faith, which he stated that all Jews were obligated to believe. The first five deal with knowledge of the Creator. The next four deal with prophecy and the Divine Origin of the Torah. The last four deal with Reward, Punishment and the ultimate redemption.

The principle which inspired all of Maimonides’ philosophical activity was identical with the fundamental tenet of Scholasticism: there can be no contradiction between the truths which God has revealed and the findings of the human mind in science and philosophy. Moreover, by science and philosophy he understood the science and philosophy of Aristotle. In some important points, however, he departed from the teaching of the Aristotelian text, holding, for instance, that the world is not eternal, as Aristotle taught, but was created ex nihilo, as is taught explicitly in the Bible. Again, he rejected the Aristotelian doctrine that God’s provident care extends only to humanity, and not to the individual. But, while in these important points Maimonides forestalled the Scholastics and undoubtedly influenced them, he was led by his admiration for the neo-Platonic commentators and by the bent of his own mind, which was essentially Jewish, to maintain many doctrines which the Scholastics could not accept.

Jewish Mysticism, Kabbalah

The general difference between the Kabbalists and exponents of Philosophy is due to their different views of the power of human intellect from first principles in apprehending the Divine. Kabbalists accept the conclusions of unaided reason in support of the Torah in general, such as the teachings of Maimonides, but hold that the Divine trancendent levels themselves can only be articulated by the mystical, hidden level of Torah interpretation, which is governed by it‘s own traditional system of hermeneutics. This is wisdom from revelation ("God‘s intellect" as it were), rather than unaided intellect (man‘s intellect). The Jewish mystical tradition originated in the prophetic traditions of the Bible, and became expressed in developing conceptual form. With its wide dissemination in the Jewish world of the Middle Ages, it became the mainstream and fullest Jewish theology, sidelining the earlier school of Philosophy that had expressed Jewish belief in the framework of Greek thought. Philosophers, on the other hand, hold that human intellect from first principles is the requisit path to perception and knowledge, though the great medieval Jewish philosophers also believed that there is an authentic Kabbalistic level to the Torah. See Hasidic philosophy below for the later development of the Jewish mystical tradition that unites the two realms.

Position in the history of thought

The scholastics preserved the continuity of philosophical thought. Without the activity of these Arabic-Jewish philosophers, the culture of the Western world could scarcely have taken the direction it has, at least not at the rapid rate which was made possible through the agency of the Humanists and of the Renaissance. The Jewish philosophers of the Arab-speaking world were the humanists of the Middle Ages. They established and maintained the bond of union between the Arabic philosophers, physicians, and poets on the one hand, and the Latin-Christian world on the other.

Gersonides, Gabirol, Maimonides, and Crescas are considered of eminent importance in the continuity of philosophy, for they not only illumined those giants of Christian scholasticism, Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas, but their light has penetrated deeply into the philosophy of modern times.

Renaissance Jewish philosophy

Classical Judaism saw the development of a brand of Jewish philosophy drawing on the teachings of Torah mysticism derived from the esoteric teachings of the Zohar and the teachings of Rabbi Isaac Luria. This was particularly embodied in the voluminous works of Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel known as the Maharal of Prague.

Modern Jewish philosophy

One of the major trends in modern Jewish philosophy was the attempt to develop a theory of Judaism through existentialism. One of the primary players in this field was Franz Rosenzweig. While researching his doctoral dissertation on the 19th-century German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Rosenzweig reacted against Hegel’s idealism and favored an existential approach. Rosenzweig, for a time, considered conversion to Christianity, but in 1913, he turned to Jewish philosophy. He became a philosopher and student of Hermann Cohen. Rozensweig’s major work, Star of Redemption, is his new philosophy in which he portrays the relationships between God, humanity and world as they are connected by creation, revelation and redemption. Later Jewish existentialists include Conservative rabbis Neil Gillman and Elliot N. Dorff.

Perhaps the most controversial form of Jewish philosophy that developed in the early 20th century was the religious naturalism of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan. His theology was a variant of John Dewey’s philosophy. Dewey’s naturalism combined atheist beliefs with religious terminology in order to construct a religiously satisfying philosophy for those who had lost faith in traditional religion. In agreement with the classical medieval Jewish thinkers, Kaplan affirmed that God is not personal, and that all anthropomorphic descriptions of God are, at best, imperfect metaphors. Kaplan’s theology went beyond this to claim that God is the sum of all natural processes that allow man to become self-fulfilled. Kaplan wrote that "to believe in God means to take for granted that it is man’s destiny to rise above the brute and to eliminate all forms of violence and exploitation from human society."

One of the more recent trends has been a reframing of Jewish theology through the lens of process philosophy, and more specifically process theology. Process philosophy suggests that fundamental elements of the universe are occasions of experience. According to this notion, what people commonly think of as concrete objects are actually successions of these occasions of experience. Occasions of experience can be collected into groupings; something complex such as a human being is thus a grouping of many smaller occasions of experience. In this view, everything in the universe is characterized by experience (which is not to be confused with consciousness); there is no mind-body duality under this system, because "mind" is simply seen as a very developed kind of experiencing.

Inherent to this worldview is the notion that all experiences are influenced by prior experiences, and will influence all future experiences. This process of influencing is never deterministic; an occasion of experience consists of a process of prehending other experiences, and then a reaction to it. This is the process in process philosophy. Process philosophy gives God a special place in the universe of occasions of experience. God encompasses all the other occasions of experience but also transcends them; thus process philosophy is a form of panentheism.

The original ideas of process theology were developed by Charles Hartshorne (1897-2000), and influenced a number of Jewish theologians, including British philosopher Samuel Alexander (1859-1938), and Rabbis Max Kaddushin, Milton Steinberg and Levi A. Olan, Harry Slominsky and to a lesser degree, Abraham Joshua Heschel. Today some rabbis who advocate some form of process theology include Donald B. Rossoff, William E. Kaufman, Harold Kushner, Anton Laytner, Gilbert S. Rosenthal, Lawrence Troster and Nahum Ward.

Perhaps the most unexpected change in Jewish religious thinking in the late 20th century was the resurgence of interest in Kabbalah. Many philosophers do not consider this to be a form of philosophy, as Kabbalah is a form of mysticism. Mysticism is generally understood as an alternative to philosophy, and not a variant of philosophy.

Haredi theology

At the same time, Haredi Judaism has seen a resurgence of a systematic philosophical format for its beliefs. The founder of this system was Rabbi Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler, a student of the Kelm mussar yeshiva and later Mashgiach (spiritual supervisor) of Ponevezh yeshiva. Although never formally committing his ideas for publication, after his death in 1953 his students compiled and organized his numerous manuscripts in a five-volume work titled "Michtav Ma’Eliyahu", later translated into English and published as "Strive for Truth". His ideas have been popularized and promulgated by many Haredi educators. Notable among them are his student Rabbi Aryeh Carmel (main redactor of "Michtav Ma’Eliyahu") and Rabbi Dr. Akiva Tatz (author of many works and a well known lecturer and activist in the kiruv (outreach) movement).

Haredim consider the fusion of religion and philosophy as difficult because classical philosophers start with no preconditions for which conclusions they must reach in their investigation, while classical religious believers have a set of religious principles of faith that they hold one must believe.

Some maintain, however, that in reality this critisicm is incorrectly solely directed at religious philosophy. Rabbi Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler (Strive for Truth Vol. 1) contends that no human being can possibly claim objectivity in philosophical investigations with moral implications: "..a person senses in advance that the answer will make a significant difference...On the solution will depend whether he will be obliged for the rest of his life to struggle with his baser desires...or whether he will be able to live without a higher responsibility". On this basis Dessler maintains that only those who have spent years concentrating on the subjugation of their desires to their intellect, can even begin to claim intellectual impartiality. Indeed, according to this it is more likely for religious philosophy to succeed in attaining the truth then secular philosophy.

Some, however, hold that one cannot simultaneously be a philosopher and a true adherent of a revealed religion. In this view, all attempts at synthesis ultimately fail. For example, Rabbi Nachman of Breslov a Hasidic mystic views all philosophy as untrue and heretical. Approaching this point of view from the opposite direction, Baruch Spinoza, a pantheist, views revealed religion as inferior to philosophy, and thus saw traditional Jewish philosophy as an intellectual failure.

Others hold that a synthesis between the two is possible. One way to find a synthesis is to use philosophical arguments to prove that one’s religious principles are true. This is a common technqiue found in the writings of many religious traditions, including Judaism, Christianity and Islam, but this is not generally accepted as true philosophy by philosophers. One example of this approach is found in the writings of Lawrence Kelemen, in his Permission to Believe, (Feldheim 1990).

Hasidic philosophy

Hasidic philosophy is the thought and teachings of the Hasidic movement founded by the Baal Shem Tov. It expressed the Kabbalisic tradition in a new paradigm in relation to man, and so could be conveyed to the Jewish masses. As the movement grew, it developed into various different interpretations, formed by the circles of close followers of the Baal Shem Tov, and his successor the Maggid of Mezerich. In the school of Chabad, formed by Schneur Zalman of Liadi, the mystical revivalism of the early Hasidic Masters was brought into a systematic philosophical articulation, that brought the esoteric Kabbalah of Isaac Luria into understanding. Interpreting the verse from Job, "from my flesh I see God", Shneur Zalman explained the inner meaning, or "soul", of the Jewish mystical tradition in intellectual form, by means of analogies drawn from the human realm. As explained and continued by the later leaders of Chabad, this enabled the human mind to grasp concepts of Godliness, and so enable the heart to feel the love and awe of God, emphasised by all the founders of hasidism, in an internal way. This development, the culminating level of the Jewish mystical tradition, in this way bridges philosophy and mysticism, by expressing the transcendent in human terms. See Hasidic philosophy for a more detailed treatment.

Holocaust theology

Judaism has traditionally taught that God is omnipotent (all powerful), omniscient (all knowing) and omnibenevolent (all good). Yet, these claims are in jarring contrast with the fact that there is much evil in the world. Perhaps the most difficult question that monotheists have confronted is how can we reconcile the existence of this view of God with the existence of evil? This is the problem of evil. Within all the monotheistic faiths many answers (theodicies) have been proposed. However, in light of the magnitude of evil seen in the Holocaust, many people have re-examined classical views on this subject. How can people still have any kind of faith after the Holocaust? This set of Jewish philosophies is discussed in the article on Holocaust theology.

Enlightenment Jewish philosophers
Baruch Spinoza (adopted Pantheism and broke with Orthodox Judaism.) 

 Post-Enlightenment Jewish philosophers
Samuel Hirsch (belonging to Reform Judaism.) 
Salomon Formstecher 
Samson Raphael Hirsch (philosophy of Torah im Derech Eretz; belonged to the Neo-Orthodox movement of 
19th century Germany, combating Reform Judaism 

 Modern Jewish philosophers
The following philosophers have had a substantial impact on the philosophy of modern day Jews who 
identify as such. They are writers who consciously dealt with philosophical issues from within a Jewish framework.


 Orthodox Judaism philosophers
Main article: Orthodox Judaism
Eliezer Berkovits 
Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler 
Samson Raphael Hirsch 
Steven T. Katz 
Abraham Isaac Kook 
Joseph Soloveitchik 

 Conservative Judaism philosophers
Main article: Conservative Judaism
Bradley Shavit Artson 
Elliot N. Dorff 
Neil Gillman 
Abraham Joshua Heschel 
Max Kadushin 
William E. Kaufman 
Harold Kushner 

 Reform Judaism philosophers
Main article: Reform Judaism
Emil Fackenheim 

 Reconstructionist Judaism philosophers
Main article: Reconstructionist Judaism
Mordecai Kaplan 

 Others
Martin Buber 
Morris Raphael Cohen 
Will Herberg 
Moses Mendelssohn 
Franz Rosenzweig 
Richard Rubenstein 

 Philosophers informed by their Jewish background
Theodor Adorno 
Hannah Arendt 
Walter Benjamin 
Constantin Brunner 
Hermann Cohen 
Erich Fromm 
Nachman Krochmal 
Max Horkheimer 
Emmanuel Lévinas 
Leo Strauss 
Henry Bergson