Syllabus
February 22
Historical and intellectual context of the birth of Jewish philosophy in the Middle Ages. Jewish kalām: Saadia Gaon
Reading: Guttmann, pp. 53-83; or Husik, pp. xiii-l, 23-47; or Sirat, pp. 1-13, 18-37
March 1
Saadia Gaon: The Book of Beliefs and Opinions
March 8
Neo-Platonism: Bachya ibn Paquda
Reading: Guttmann, pp. 95-101, 117-124; or Husik, pp. 1-16, 80-105; or Sirat, pp. 57-68, 81-85
March 15
Bachya ibn Paquda: Duties of the Heart
March 22
Solomon ibn Gabirol
Reading: Guttmann, pp. 101-117; or Husik, pp. 59-79; or Sirat, pp. 68-81
April 5
Solomon ibn Gabirol: The Fountain of Life
April 12
Judah Halevi
Reading: Guttmann, pp. 136-151; or Husik, pp. 150-183; or Sirat, pp. 113-131
April 19
Judah Halevi: The Kuzari
April 26
Aristotelianism: Maimonides
Reading: Guttmann, pp. 172-207; or Husik, pp. 236-311; or Sirat, pp. 157-203
May 3
Maimonides: Mishneh Torah I (Sefer ha-Madaʻ)
May 10
Maimonides: The Guide of the Perplexed
May 18
Maimonides: Eight Chapters
Annotation
Traditional, Orthodox Judaism is not interested in a systematic reflection on the "Jewish faith"-its focus is rather on the religious practice. Impulses for a rational, conceptual definition of traditional religious ideas come from outside-through the direct influence of Greek and Hellenistic thought, then to a greater extent, under the influence of rationalistic branches of Islamic theology. Despite the fact that Jewish philosophy accepted forms and terminology originally foreign to Judaism, it has always conserved specific content bound with the views of the specific role of Israel in the world history.
The course shall give a historical survey of the development of the Jewish philosophy, from its beginnings in the ancient Greco-Roman world, the confrontation with medieval Islamic thinking, the full development of autonomous Jewish philosophical reflection to its decline at the end of the Middle Ages. Main religious and philosophical ideas will be discussed and the most important Jewish philosophers will be presented.