The Philosopher-King in Medieval and Renaissance Jewish Political ThoughtThis original treatment of medieval and Renaissance Jewish thinkers expands the scope of Jewish philosophy and adds new depth to our understanding of Jewish culture of the period. While medieval Christian political philosophy was based on Aristotle's Politics, Muslim and Jewish philosophy adhered to the Platonic tradition. In this book, Abraham Melamed explores a major aspect of this tradition—the theory of the philosopher-king—as it manifested itself in medieval Jewish political philosophy, tracing the theory's emergence in Jewish thought as well as its patterns of transmittal, adaptation, and absorption. The Maimonidean encounter with the theory, via al-Farabi, is also examined, as is its influence upon later scholars such as Felaquera, ibn Latif, Narboni, Shemtov ibn Shemtov, Polkar, Alemanno, Abarbanel, and others. Also discussed is the influence of Averroe's commentary on Plato's Republic, and the Machiavellian rejection of the theory of the philosopher-king and its influence upon early modern Jewish scholars, such as Simone Luzzatto and Spinoza, who rejected it in favor of a so-called "Republican" attitude. |
Contents
1 | |
2 The Sources | 13 |
3 First Influences | 23 |
4 The Class System | 61 |
5 Transmission | 75 |
6 Adaptation | 93 |
7 Application | 111 |
8 Christian Applications and the Machiavellian Revolution | 141 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Abravanel Al—Farabi Albo Alemanno Aristotle Aristotle’s attain attributes Averroes biblical chapter Christian contrast David defined definition Discorsi discourse discussion divine English Erasmus Ethics example Falaquera figure find first God’s governance Guide ha—Ma’alot ha—Olamim halakhic Hebrew Hebrew translation Hilkhot human society Ibid Ibn Bajja Ibn Latif Ibn Rushd Ibn Rushd’s commentary Ibn Tufayl ideal ruler identified imitatio Dei imitation influence intellectual perfection interpretation Isaac Abravanel Islamic Italian Jerusalem Jewish philosophy Judah King of Israel king’s kingship knowledge Kuzari lawgiver leader leadership Luzzatto Ma’amar Machiavelli Maimonides medieval Melamed monarchy monides moral Moses Muslim philoso philosopher king philosopher—king theory philosopher—prophet Pines Plato’s Republic Platonic political philosophy political thought Polkar presents prince prophecy prophet prototype rational reflected regime Rehoboam Renaissance Rosenthal rule sages Samuel Samuel Ibn Tibbon Saul Sefer Shalom shel Shemtov solitary Solomon soul specific Spinoza thinkers tion Torah virtues virtuous Walzer wisdom wise