April's column for Or Adam:
Continuing our tour of early Jewish philosophers, this month we will look at Levi ben Gerson (also known as Ralbag or Gersonides). Born in 1288 in Provence, Gersonides was an important and influential figure in medieval Jewish philosophy. He died in 1344.
Like Philo and Maimonides before him, Gersonides attempts to reconcile Greek philosophy with Jewish theology. Unlike the earlier thinkers, however, Gersonides had robust knowledge of mathematics and astronomy. Norbert Samuelson says of Gersonides: “he could arguably be considered the most important astronomer in Christian Europe before Galileo” (228). He brought this knowledge to bear on his philosophical thinking, giving it an empirical and scientific basis lacking in the earlier synthetic adventures. He criticizes Maimonides for trying to stay neutral on cosmological questions and he argues that astronomy and reason can provide definitive answers.
Heavily influenced by Maimonides and Aristotle, Gersonides sees reason as the ultimate arbiter of truth. He believed that the Torah and reason could not conflict; but where they apparently did, one needed, according to Gersonides, to interpret the Torah in a way compatible with reason. Humans, using their faculty of reason, can gain knowledge and understanding of the universe and there is nothing, according to Gersonides, that is in principle out of reason’s reach.
Like Philo and Maimonides, Gersonides believes in God and the Torah. But their attempts at synthesis are what make these thinkers important for secular humanism. The continual and ruthless injection of reason into attempts at understanding the world paves the way for secular humanism. Gersonides, with his consistent and rigorous rationalism, expands the scope of reason and science in grasping the truths of existence and thus, quite unintentionally, limits the scope of faith and the supernatural.
Sources: The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy and Jewish Philosophy: An Historical Introduction by Norbert Samuelson.
Showing posts with label Or Adam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Or Adam. Show all posts
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Monday, March 05, 2007
Scholarly Notes: Milton Friedman
March column for Or Adam:
For this month's column, we move to the present day to look at one of the most influential secular Jewish intellectuals of the 20th century. Milton Friedman was born on July 31, 1912 in Brooklyn, NY to an Orthodox Jewish family. As Friedman recalls, he was fanatic in his preteen years about observing the Jewish laws. He began, however, to question the rational basis for these laws and finding none, rejected religion.
Friedman won the Noble Prize in Economics in 1976. He was also awarded the National Medal of Science and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1988. His major achievements were in economic theory, but not just in academia. Friedman worked for several federal administrations starting with President Franklin Roosevelt. While working at the Department of Treasury during World War II, Friedman helped to invent the payroll withholding tax system that most of us are all too familiar with and that Friedman would later regret. He was an adviser for several U.S. presidents, including Presidents Nixon and Reagan, as well as British Prime Minister Margret Thatcher. Serving on the Gates Commission--President Nixon's Advisory Commission on an All-Volunteer Force--Friedman was a vigorous and ultimately victorious voice against the military draft. Friedman also was the intellectual force behind school choice, proposing in 1955 a system of school vouchers to introduce competition and choice into education.
Friedman communicated his economic and political ideas to the general public as well. He made a popular series with PBS in 1980 called "Free to Choose" which was later made into a bestselling book by the same name. It was updated in 1990 and is now available for free on the web: http://www.ideachannel.tv/ He wrote a regular column for Newsweek from 1966 until 1983 and gave lectures around the world.
The focus of most of his work was on economics and politics with the goal of creating and spreading more autonomy and freedom throughout the world. Friedman did not speak about god or religion often. From what he does say, it is clear that Friedman viewed the question of god as unanswerable, unverifiable, and ultimately irrelevant. What was important was that individuals had the freedom to choose and live their lives. Milton Friedman died at the age of 94 on November 16, 2006.
Sources: Wikipedia; interview, Academy of Achievement; biography, Cato Institute.
For this month's column, we move to the present day to look at one of the most influential secular Jewish intellectuals of the 20th century. Milton Friedman was born on July 31, 1912 in Brooklyn, NY to an Orthodox Jewish family. As Friedman recalls, he was fanatic in his preteen years about observing the Jewish laws. He began, however, to question the rational basis for these laws and finding none, rejected religion.
Friedman won the Noble Prize in Economics in 1976. He was also awarded the National Medal of Science and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1988. His major achievements were in economic theory, but not just in academia. Friedman worked for several federal administrations starting with President Franklin Roosevelt. While working at the Department of Treasury during World War II, Friedman helped to invent the payroll withholding tax system that most of us are all too familiar with and that Friedman would later regret. He was an adviser for several U.S. presidents, including Presidents Nixon and Reagan, as well as British Prime Minister Margret Thatcher. Serving on the Gates Commission--President Nixon's Advisory Commission on an All-Volunteer Force--Friedman was a vigorous and ultimately victorious voice against the military draft. Friedman also was the intellectual force behind school choice, proposing in 1955 a system of school vouchers to introduce competition and choice into education.
Friedman communicated his economic and political ideas to the general public as well. He made a popular series with PBS in 1980 called "Free to Choose" which was later made into a bestselling book by the same name. It was updated in 1990 and is now available for free on the web: http://www.ideachannel.tv/ He wrote a regular column for Newsweek from 1966 until 1983 and gave lectures around the world.
The focus of most of his work was on economics and politics with the goal of creating and spreading more autonomy and freedom throughout the world. Friedman did not speak about god or religion often. From what he does say, it is clear that Friedman viewed the question of god as unanswerable, unverifiable, and ultimately irrelevant. What was important was that individuals had the freedom to choose and live their lives. Milton Friedman died at the age of 94 on November 16, 2006.
Sources: Wikipedia; interview, Academy of Achievement; biography, Cato Institute.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Philo of Alexandria
My second column for the Or Adam newsletter focused on Philo of Alexandria:
Philo Judaeus, better known as Philo of Alexandria, lived from around 20 B.C.E to 50 C.E. in Alexandria, Egypt and is often identified as the first Jewish philosopher. Like Maimonides, who comes a millennium after him, Philo was interested in reconciling Jewish and Greek thought. Unlike Maimonides, Philo is more heavily influenced by Plato and the Stoics rather than Aristotle. Many of Philo's writings on the existence and nature of God, the creation of the world, and the virtues are similar to the doctrines of Platonic and Stoic thought.
Philo's importance to Jewish philosophy is relatively minor. He is not the touchstone or innovator of Jewish thought that Maimonides is. Philo's philosophical view of Judaism was not widely accepted in his lifetime or later. He did, however, have an important, though sometimes disputed, influence on the development of Christianity. There is, according to some scholars, reason to think that he influenced Paul and some other writers of the Gospels.
So in what sense is he a Jewish philosopher? First, the focus of much of his attention is on the biblical ideas; and in particular, on Moses and the foundations of the Law. Second, Philo sought to show that Greek philosophy provided the best means by which to understand Torah and its law.
Philo's importance to secular Judaism is, like many of the Jewish philosophers this column will look at, indirect. Philo had no intention, and would likely be appalled at, rejecting or sidelining God. He is, nonetheless, interesting from a secular humanistic perspective because he was one of the first Jewish thinkers to explicitly use reason and philosophy to grapple with the sacred Jewish texts. By placing reason at the center of his methodology for understanding the world, Philo helps to make possible secular humanism.
Sources: Jewish Philosophy by Norbert Samuelson; A History of Philosophy, Vol 1 by Frederick Copleston; Wikipedia, JewishEncyclopedia.com and The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Philo Judaeus, better known as Philo of Alexandria, lived from around 20 B.C.E to 50 C.E. in Alexandria, Egypt and is often identified as the first Jewish philosopher. Like Maimonides, who comes a millennium after him, Philo was interested in reconciling Jewish and Greek thought. Unlike Maimonides, Philo is more heavily influenced by Plato and the Stoics rather than Aristotle. Many of Philo's writings on the existence and nature of God, the creation of the world, and the virtues are similar to the doctrines of Platonic and Stoic thought.
Philo's importance to Jewish philosophy is relatively minor. He is not the touchstone or innovator of Jewish thought that Maimonides is. Philo's philosophical view of Judaism was not widely accepted in his lifetime or later. He did, however, have an important, though sometimes disputed, influence on the development of Christianity. There is, according to some scholars, reason to think that he influenced Paul and some other writers of the Gospels.
So in what sense is he a Jewish philosopher? First, the focus of much of his attention is on the biblical ideas; and in particular, on Moses and the foundations of the Law. Second, Philo sought to show that Greek philosophy provided the best means by which to understand Torah and its law.
Philo's importance to secular Judaism is, like many of the Jewish philosophers this column will look at, indirect. Philo had no intention, and would likely be appalled at, rejecting or sidelining God. He is, nonetheless, interesting from a secular humanistic perspective because he was one of the first Jewish thinkers to explicitly use reason and philosophy to grapple with the sacred Jewish texts. By placing reason at the center of his methodology for understanding the world, Philo helps to make possible secular humanism.
Sources: Jewish Philosophy by Norbert Samuelson; A History of Philosophy, Vol 1 by Frederick Copleston; Wikipedia, JewishEncyclopedia.com and The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Maimonides
I've begun writing a short monthly column for the Or Adam newsletter. Each month, I'll briefly discuss an important thinker in Jewish history or in secular humanist thought. The following was the first "Scholarly Notes" with a focus on Maimonides.
One of the greatest scholars of medieval Jewish history, and arguably of any period, was the Spanish born Moses ben Maimon, better known by his Greek name: Maimonides. Born in Córdoba in 1135, Maimonides eventually settles in Cairo after moving around to escape Muslim persecution and forced conversions of Jews. In Cairo, he rises to prominence as an influential physician and philosopher. He was an expert in Greek philosophy and wrote many secular medical treatises, but his two most famous works are religious in focus: the Mishneh Torah and The Guide to Perplexed. The Mishneh Torah was the Jewish world's first comprehensive law code, integrating laws and rulings from the Tanakh, the Talmuds, Midrashic literature, contemporary rabbinic writings, and even non-Jewish sources like Aristotle. The Guide to the Perplexed seeks to put Jewish law and beliefs on a solid rational basis; that is, he argues that the beliefs were not just the dictates of the Torah or rabbis, but were deduced and proven by reason. In doing so, Maimonides attempts a synthesis of Jewish thinking and Aristotelian philosophy. Although Maimonides' rationalism met much opposition in the Jewish world, many of his views are today taken, at least by the Orthodox, to be defining elements of Judaism. Maimonides also had a profound influence the non-Jewish world. He set the ground for much of later Christian Medieval philosophy: including Thomas Aquinas who attempts, similar to Maimonides' synthesis of Judaism and Aristotelianism, a synthesis of Christianity and Aristotelianism. With Maimonides' attempt to put Jewish thought and beliefs on a rational basis, we should also see him, though quite unintentionally, as setting the stage for later secular Jewish thinking.
Sources: The Teaching Company's Introduction to Judaism by Shai Cherry; A History of the Jews by Paul Johnson; and Wikipedia.
One of the greatest scholars of medieval Jewish history, and arguably of any period, was the Spanish born Moses ben Maimon, better known by his Greek name: Maimonides. Born in Córdoba in 1135, Maimonides eventually settles in Cairo after moving around to escape Muslim persecution and forced conversions of Jews. In Cairo, he rises to prominence as an influential physician and philosopher. He was an expert in Greek philosophy and wrote many secular medical treatises, but his two most famous works are religious in focus: the Mishneh Torah and The Guide to Perplexed. The Mishneh Torah was the Jewish world's first comprehensive law code, integrating laws and rulings from the Tanakh, the Talmuds, Midrashic literature, contemporary rabbinic writings, and even non-Jewish sources like Aristotle. The Guide to the Perplexed seeks to put Jewish law and beliefs on a solid rational basis; that is, he argues that the beliefs were not just the dictates of the Torah or rabbis, but were deduced and proven by reason. In doing so, Maimonides attempts a synthesis of Jewish thinking and Aristotelian philosophy. Although Maimonides' rationalism met much opposition in the Jewish world, many of his views are today taken, at least by the Orthodox, to be defining elements of Judaism. Maimonides also had a profound influence the non-Jewish world. He set the ground for much of later Christian Medieval philosophy: including Thomas Aquinas who attempts, similar to Maimonides' synthesis of Judaism and Aristotelianism, a synthesis of Christianity and Aristotelianism. With Maimonides' attempt to put Jewish thought and beliefs on a rational basis, we should also see him, though quite unintentionally, as setting the stage for later secular Jewish thinking.
Sources: The Teaching Company's Introduction to Judaism by Shai Cherry; A History of the Jews by Paul Johnson; and Wikipedia.
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