Religion - Jewish Philosophy
Jewish philosophy is
not a universally agreed-upon term, but it does exist as a field of
scholarship. It is therefore a subject that requires careful analysis,
definition, clarification and explanation. Some may claim that it is an
attempt to fuse the fields of secular (even atheistic) philosophy with
the religious teachings of Judaism (an Abrahamic religion). Others may
claim that it is a relatively latter-day form of rationalization for
Judaism itself. It should be noted that the primary source documents for
Judaism, such as the Torah, Tanakh and Talmud do not have terms for
either "philosophy" (a non-Jewish Greek word meaning "love [of] wisdom")
or "Judaism" (an English label not coined by the Jews themselves)
because they work on the asumption that the Torah's commandments and
later rabbinic enactments are to be practiced and are not to be
"rationalized" or "philosophized" as one would discuss a philosophical
topic.
As with any fusion of religion and philosophy, the attempt is 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.
Due to these divergent goals and views, some 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 false 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
preset 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).
Another way to find a synthesis is to abstain from holding as true any
religious principles of one's faith at all, unless one independently
comes to those conclusions from a philosophical analysis. In some ways
this can be found in the works of Reconstructionist Rabbi Mordecai
Kaplan (20th century). However, this approach is not generally accepted
as being faithful to one's religion by adherents of that religion.
Another 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 try 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 no way to end the debate conclusively.
Early Jewish philosophy
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.
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.
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.
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.
Jewish Mysticism, Kabbalah
A separate entry exists for Kabbalah. A fundamental difference between
the Kabbalists and exponents of philosophy is due to their different
views of the power of human reason. Kabbalists reject the conclusions of
reason, and rely upon tradition, inspiration, and intuition.
Philosophers, on the other hand, hold that reason is a prior requisite
for all perception and knowledge.
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.)
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 Hovot 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 the
model for the Kuzari.
Human reason does not count for much with him; inward illumination,
emotional vision, is everything. 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 palm of course 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 Roshd 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), רבי משה בן מיימון, 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.
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 philosophers
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.
Post-Enlightenment Jewish philosophers
* Baruch Spinoza (adopted Pantheism and broke with Orthodox Judaism.)
* Samuel Hirsch (belonging to Reform Judaism.)
* Salomon Formstecher
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
process theology or a related theology include Rabbis William E.
Kaufman, Harold Kushner, Anton Laytner, Nahum Ward, Donald B. Rossoff
and Gilbert S. Rosenthal.
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 in general is generally
understood as an alternative to philosophy, and not a variant of
philosophy.
Holocaust theology
Judaism has traditionally have 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.
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
* Shalom Carmy
* Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler
* Samson Raphael Hirsch
* Yitzchok Hutner
* Menachem Kellner
* Steven T. Katz
* Abraham Isaac Kook
* Norman Lamm
* Joseph Soloveitchik
Conservative Judaism philosophers
Main article: Conservative Judaism
* Elliot N. Dorff
* Neil Gillman
* Abraham Joshua Heschel
* William E. Kaufman
* Harold Kushner
Reform Judaism philosophers
Main article: Reform Judaism
* Emil Fackenheim
Reconstructionist Judaism philosophers
Main article: Reconstructionist Judaism
* Mordecai Kaplan
Others
* Moses Mendelssohn
* Martin Buber
* Franz Rosenzweig
* Will Herberg
* Richard Rubenstein
Philosophers informed by their Jewish background
* Hannah Arendt
* Walter Benjamin
* Hermann Cohen
* Nachman Krochmal
From:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_philosophy
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