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Studies and Texts in Medieval Jewish Philosophy and Science in Honor of Resianne Fontaine
Officina Philosophica Hebraica Volume 5
Series: - Studies in Jewish History and Culture, Volume: 87/5
This vibrant collection of studies in medieval Jewish philosophy and science, published in honor of the distinguished scholar of medieval Jewish thought, Resianne Fontaine, brings together twenty original articles by leading scholars in the field. The contributions explore a wide range of questions, such as how the genres of commentary and encyclopedic writing proved crucial to the preservation and transformation of Aristotelian philosophy as it moved across cultures and languages; how medieval authors, translators, and scribes, driven by good intentions, sought to clarify difficult materials yet sometimes rendered them incomprehensible; how Hebrew translatorsâ failure to distinguish between Arabic terms for âtruthâ and âcertaintyâ resulted in key aspects of Islamic Aristotelianism not making their way into Hebrew thought; and whether Maimonides had a sense of humor. Several of the studies feature first editions and translations of engaging texts. Together, these studies constitute a significant contribution to the study of medieval Jewish philosophy and science, intellectual history, and cross-cultural transmission.
Steven Harvey, Ph.D. Harvard University (1977), is Professor Emeritus of Jewish and Islamic Philosophy at Bar-Ilan University and President of the Commission for Jewish Philosophy of the Société internationale pour lâétude de la philosophie médiévale (SIEPM). He has published extensively on a wide variety of subjects in medieval Jewish and Islamic philosophy.
Niran Garshtein, Ph.D. Bar-Ilan University (2021), Bar-Ilan, is a postdoctoral fellow at the Cohn Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas at Tel Aviv University. His research focuses on the reception of scientific and philosophical knowledge in medieval Jewish cultures, with particular interest in the history of astronomy, astrology, and mathematics.
Giuseppe Veltri is full professor of Jewish Philosophy and Religion (University of Hamburg). Since 2010 he is honorary Professor for Comparative Religious studies (University of Leipzig), since 2015 is director of the âMaimonides Centre for Advanced Studiesâ (Hamburg) and of the âInstitute of Jewish Studiesâ (Hamburg). He is editor of the De Gruyter Brill series Studies in Jewish History and Cultures.
Niran Garshtein, Ph.D. Bar-Ilan University (2021), Bar-Ilan, is a postdoctoral fellow at the Cohn Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas at Tel Aviv University. His research focuses on the reception of scientific and philosophical knowledge in medieval Jewish cultures, with particular interest in the history of astronomy, astrology, and mathematics.
Giuseppe Veltri is full professor of Jewish Philosophy and Religion (University of Hamburg). Since 2010 he is honorary Professor for Comparative Religious studies (University of Leipzig), since 2015 is director of the âMaimonides Centre for Advanced Studiesâ (Hamburg) and of the âInstitute of Jewish Studiesâ (Hamburg). He is editor of the De Gruyter Brill series Studies in Jewish History and Cultures.
Dedication
List of Figures
Notes on Contributors
Introduction
âSteven Harvey and Niran Garshtein
1 The Role of Genre in the Transmission of Greek Philosophy
âRuth Glasner
2 Some Observations on Judah Messer Leonâs Commentary on Averroesâ Exposition of Porphyryâs Isagoge
âCharles H. Manekin
3 Evil as Absence: Comparing Avicennaâs QurʾÄnic Hermeneutics and Maimonidesâ Biblical Interpretation
âAmira Eran
4 Eight Stations on the Via Negativa
âWarren Zev Harvey
5 Maimonides on Laughter and Humor: In Context
âSteven Harvey
6 Deanimating the Spheres in Abarbanelâs New Heavens
âDaniel Davies
7 Jewish Endurance and the Conservation of Matter: Simone Luzzattoâs Social Meta/Physics and Its Contradictions
âGiuseppe Veltri
8 A Page Badly Turned: An Unusual Scribal Error in Pseudo-Euclidâs Book of Mirrors
âSabine Arndt
9 Abridging Euclidâs Elements: The Case of the Geometrical Section of Judah ben Solomon ha-Kohenâs Midrash ha-Ḥokhmah
âOfer Elior
10 Presence, Absence, and the Presence of Absence: The Diagram of the Halo in the Hebrew Manuscripts of Averroesâ Epitome of Aristotleâs Meteorology
âYoav Meyrav
11 Truly Translating vs. Translating Truth: Uncertainty in the Hebrew of Samuel Ibn Tibbon
âYehuda Halper
12 A Philosophical-Mystical Interpretation of the Hebrew Term halakhot in a Suhrwardian Key
âY. Tzvi Langermann
13 The Medieval Hebrew Translations of Bernard de Gordon, Lilium Medicinae
âGerrit Bos
14 Vernacularization and Dissemination of Knowledge: The Re-Invention of Late Medieval Hebrew in a Comparativist View
âYossef Schwartz
15 Samuel Benvenistâs Egodocument: The Prologue to His Hebrew Translation of Boethiusâs De Consolatione Philosophiae (c. 1412)
âNiran Garshtein and Gad Freudenthal
16 Shem Ṭov ben Joseph Ibn Falaqueraâs Moreh ha-Moreh on Guide III.51, and the Toledan Tradition of Jewish Thought
âJames T. Robinson
17 Gersonides on the Distance of the Sun from the Earth with Some Methodological Considerations
âBernard R. Goldstein and Niran Garshtein
18 Preliminary Observations of Sections III and IV of Maimonidesâ âLetter to Samuel Ibn Tibbonâ
âReimund Leicht
19 Medieval Hebrew Sciences in Modern Jewish Encyclopedias
âIrene E. Zwiep
20 Towards a Dutch Translation of Maimonidesâ Guide of the Perplexed
âWout van Bekkum
Publications of Resianne Fontaine
Index of Names, Ancient and Premodern
Index of Books, Ancient and Premodern
Index of Subjects
List of Figures
Notes on Contributors
Introduction
âSteven Harvey and Niran Garshtein
Part 1 Propaedeutica
1 The Role of Genre in the Transmission of Greek Philosophy
âRuth Glasner
2 Some Observations on Judah Messer Leonâs Commentary on Averroesâ Exposition of Porphyryâs Isagoge
âCharles H. Manekin
Part 2 Philosophers in Context
3 Evil as Absence: Comparing Avicennaâs QurʾÄnic Hermeneutics and Maimonidesâ Biblical Interpretation
âAmira Eran
4 Eight Stations on the Via Negativa
âWarren Zev Harvey
5 Maimonides on Laughter and Humor: In Context
âSteven Harvey
6 Deanimating the Spheres in Abarbanelâs New Heavens
âDaniel Davies
7 Jewish Endurance and the Conservation of Matter: Simone Luzzattoâs Social Meta/Physics and Its Contradictions
âGiuseppe Veltri
Part 3 Making the Difficult Incomprehensible
8 A Page Badly Turned: An Unusual Scribal Error in Pseudo-Euclidâs Book of Mirrors
âSabine Arndt
9 Abridging Euclidâs Elements: The Case of the Geometrical Section of Judah ben Solomon ha-Kohenâs Midrash ha-Ḥokhmah
âOfer Elior
10 Presence, Absence, and the Presence of Absence: The Diagram of the Halo in the Hebrew Manuscripts of Averroesâ Epitome of Aristotleâs Meteorology
âYoav Meyrav
Part 4 Terminology: A Word Fitly Spoken (Prov. 25:11)
11 Truly Translating vs. Translating Truth: Uncertainty in the Hebrew of Samuel Ibn Tibbon
âYehuda Halper
12 A Philosophical-Mystical Interpretation of the Hebrew Term halakhot in a Suhrwardian Key
âY. Tzvi Langermann
13 The Medieval Hebrew Translations of Bernard de Gordon, Lilium Medicinae
âGerrit Bos
Part 5 Late Medieval Hebrew as a Vernacular
14 Vernacularization and Dissemination of Knowledge: The Re-Invention of Late Medieval Hebrew in a Comparativist View
âYossef Schwartz
Part 6 Texts in Context
15 Samuel Benvenistâs Egodocument: The Prologue to His Hebrew Translation of Boethiusâs De Consolatione Philosophiae (c. 1412)
âNiran Garshtein and Gad Freudenthal
16 Shem Ṭov ben Joseph Ibn Falaqueraâs Moreh ha-Moreh on Guide III.51, and the Toledan Tradition of Jewish Thought
âJames T. Robinson
17 Gersonides on the Distance of the Sun from the Earth with Some Methodological Considerations
âBernard R. Goldstein and Niran Garshtein
18 Preliminary Observations of Sections III and IV of Maimonidesâ âLetter to Samuel Ibn Tibbonâ
âReimund Leicht
Part 7 Sepharad in Ashkenaz
19 Medieval Hebrew Sciences in Modern Jewish Encyclopedias
âIrene E. Zwiep
20 Towards a Dutch Translation of Maimonidesâ Guide of the Perplexed
âWout van Bekkum
Publications of Resianne Fontaine
Index of Names, Ancient and Premodern
Index of Books, Ancient and Premodern
Index of Subjects
This book will be of interest to students and scholars of medieval and premodern Jewish philosophy and science, with new important studies by leading scholars in these fields.