Jewish Philosophy in the Middle Ages

"This volume is [a] great achievement. [Dr. Jospe's] book can be used as both a textbook and reference book because of its clear and extensive index of names and topics. Yet the clarity of the book's presentation and its readability make it a perfect introductory volume for a lay reader. His introductory chapter “What is Jewish Philosophy" alone is worth the price of the book because it surveys the wide variety of approaches of Jewish philosophy. There is, as Dr. Jospe makes very clear, no single, uniform Jewish philosophy. Thus, many Jews who understand this, become confused, throw up their hands and ask, "If so, what should I believe?" Jospe's excellent book helps people reach an answer." -- Israel Drazen * The Jewish Eye *
"Jospe (Bar-Ilan University/Hebrew University) offers an excellent overview of a formative period in medieval Jewish philosophy, from Saadia Gaon to its climax with Maimonides, when Jews living in Islamic lands and writing in Arabic developed a conscious philosophical tradition. . . . Throughout, the author focuses on selected thinkers who represent important philosophical schools of thought and literary genres. Among the book's many useful features are the general introduction and helpful didactic charts, diagrams and tables. Included are comparative cross references, a good subject and name index, and two illuminating appendices. This book joins others in a group of excellent but very different scholarly treatments of Jewish philosophy, including Isaac Husik's History of Medieval Jewish Philosophy (1916), Julius Guttmann's Philosophies of Judaism (1964) and Colette Sirat's History of Jewish Philosophy in the Middle Ages (1985). Jospe's book complements these works and moves the philosophical discussion along. Summing Up: Highly Recommended. Graduate students and above; general readers." -- D.B. Levy, Touro College, Lander College for Women * CHOICE (April 2010) *
Raphael Jospe’s book was translated from a course produced for Israel’s Open University, and, therefore, is very much intended as a textbook, including copious citations from the works under discussion, frequent summaries of the material, and illustrations and tables...Furthermore, Jospe does not restrict himself merely to his authors’ strictly philosophical works, for instance discussing Judah Halevi’s poetry and Maimonides’s dogmatics. Of note is the long section devoted to Abraham ibn Ezra...In addition to his summary of the medieval views, and the production of texts which illustrate the points made, Jospe makes references to contemporary scholarship, presenting alternate interpretations of the works he discusses, often with his own response to these views. -- Daniel J. Lasker, Norbert Blechner Professor of Jewish Values, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev * European Judaism *