Time Matters: Time, Creation, and Cosmology in Medieval Jewish Philosophy

by T.M. Rudavsky

Overview

Despite the importance of time and cosmology to Western thought, surprisingly little attention has been paid to these issues in histories of Jewish philosophy. Focusing on how medieval philosophers constructed a philosophical theology that was sensitive to religious constraints and yet also incorporated compelling elements of science and philosophy, T. M. Rudavsky traces the development of the concepts of time, cosmology, and creation in the writings of Ibn Gabirol, Maimonides, Gersonides, Crescas, Spinoza, and others.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780791493250
Publisher:	State University of New York Press
Publication date:	02/01/2012
Series:	SUNY series in Jewish Philosophy
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	306
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

T. M. Rudavsky is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Jewish Studies at The Ohio State University. She is the editor of Divine Omniscience and Omnipotence in Medieval Philosophy: Islamic, Jewish, and Christian Perspectives and Gender and Judaism: The Transformation of Tradition.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. TIME AND COSMOLOGY IN ATHENS AND JERUSALEM
Introduction
Biblical Conceptions of Time
Rabbinical Models of Time and Creation
Time, Order, and Creation in the Greek Philosophical Tradition
Ancient Greek Astronomy and Cosmology
Plotinus and the Neoplatonist Tradition
Conclusion

2. TIME, CREATION, AND COSMOLOGY
Introduction
Astronomy and Cosmology: The True Perplexity Revealed
Creation Models in Maimonides
Creation, Time, and the Instant in Gersonides
Creation, Time and Duration in Crescas
The Subjectivity of Time according to Albo
Scripture, Philosophy, and the First Instant of Creation
Conclusion

3. TIME, MOTION, AND THE INSTANT: JEWISH PHILOSOPHERS CONFRONT ZENO
Introduction
Traversing the Infinite: Zeno, Aristotle, and John Philoponus
Jewish Neoplatonic Considerations of Infinite Divisibility
Meeting the Kalam Challenge: Kalam Atomism Described
Rejection of Kalam Atomism: Saadia Gaon, Halevi, Ibn Daud, and Maimonides
Gersonides on the Continuum
Crescas on Infinity, Space, and the Vacuum
Conclusion

4. TEMPORALITY, HUMAN FREEDOM, AND DIVINE OMNISCIENCE
Introduction
The Problem Defined: Aristotle's Sea-Flight Paradox
Astrological Determinism and Human Freedom
Compatibilism in Jewish Kalam: Saadia Gaon and Halevi
Maimoides' Compatibilism
Incompatibilist Response of Ibn Daud
Omniscience and Human Freedom in Gersonides
Indeterminism and Prophecy
The Challenge of Determinism: Crescas on Divine Knowledge and Possibility
Conclusion

5. PRELUDE TO MODERNITY
Introduction
Newton and His Philosophical Precursors
Spinoza's Metaphysical Monism
Time, Duration, and Creation: Spinoza and Descartes Compared
Substance, Infinity, and Divisibility in Spinoza
The Role layed by Imagination
Spinoza on Divine Omniscience and Human Freedom
Conclusion

CONCLUSION: ETERNITY A PARTE POST, INDIVIDUATION AND, IMMORTALITY

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Editorial Reviews

Is time finite or infinite? Did God create the universe in time, or did God create time? Have Jewish thinkers contributed a uniquely "Jewish" perspective on time? As part of her research devoted to exploring medieval attempts to reconcile tensions between philosophy, science, and theology, Rudavsky (philosophy and Jewish studies, Ohio State U.) weighs such questions pondered by Jewish philosophers as well as by their medieval Christian and Muslim peers. With rabbinic and Greek models of time and creation, the initial chapters lay a foundation for later pre-modern thinking primarily by Maimomides, Ibn Daud, Gersonides, and Spinoza. The seven basic line illustrations exemplify confrontations with Zeno's paradox. Portions of several chapters have appeared in preliminary form as separate articles. Extensively referenced. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

"The topic is significant, especially now in view of the renewed interest in scientific cosmology and its relation to religion, but it is also of great importance for the history of medieval Jewish, Christian, and Islamic philosophy. The book covers a wide range of difficult, often technical philosophical ideas and theories in a highly analytical and systematic fashion, and I especially like the author's consistent ability to sketch out the arguments of these thinkers in a careful and lucid way. She also displays considerable erudition in both original sources and scholarly literature, regardless of whether the discussions are historical or philosophical. I found the book interesting and illuminating." — Barry S. Kogan, author of Averroes and the Metaphysics of Causation

From the Publisher