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A History of Jewish Philosophy in the Middle Ages

Colette Sirat · 1985 · Long (over 350 pages)

4.3 from 3 reviews · 39 views

Faith & reasonJewish
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What it is

A comprehensive history of medieval Jewish philosophy by the French scholar of Hebrew manuscripts Colette Sirat. After setting out the background in the Bible, rabbinic literature and the encounter with Greek and Arabic thought, she traces Jewish philosophy in the Islamic world, beginning with Saadia Gaon and Isaac Israeli, through Solomon ibn Gabirol, Bahya ibn Paquda, Judah Halevi and Abraham ibn Daud, to Maimonides and the controversies his work provoked. She then follows the tradition into Christian Europe, where philosophers writing in Hebrew, such as Gersonides and Hasdai Crescas, engaged Aristotle, Averroes and the scholastics, and continues to the end of the Middle Ages. Alongside the famous names, Sirat discusses many lesser-known authors and Karaite thinkers, drawing on manuscript sources, and gives guidance on texts and editions.

Why read it

It is the most complete one-volume survey of the field, valuable for the many figures between and after the famous names.

Where to start

Read the chapters on Saadia and Maimonides first, then use the rest as a reference.

Reviews

  1. Tal Rosen

    I translate between Hebrew and Arabic, and Sirat understands that Judaeo-Arabic is not a footnote to Jewish philosophy but its first home. Her chapter on Saadia is excellent, and she makes Halevi's Kuzari sit properly in its Arabic context. Dense, scholarly, and the best map I know.

  2. Rafael Moreno Gálvez

    I guide visitors through Córdoba's Jewish quarter, and Sirat helped me explain what Maimonides was arguing with, not just where he was born. Heavy going in places, but it gave me a whole cast of thinkers I can now mention on my tours.

  3. Miriam Adler

    I teach adults in Jerusalem and keep this beside me when we move past Maimonides to Gersonides and Crescas, who are hard to find good guides to. It is a reference book rather than a page-turner, and the bibliography shows its age.