Truth, Tradition and Religion. The Association between Judaism and Islam and the Relation between Religion and Philosophy in Medieval Jewish Thought
Titel:
Truth, Tradition and Religion. The Association between Judaism and Islam and the Relation between Religion and Philosophy in Medieval Jewish Thought
Auteur:
Holzman, Gitit
Verschenen in:
Al-Masaq
Paginering:
Jaargang 18 (2006) nr. 2 pagina's 191-200
Jaar:
2006-09-01
Inhoud:
The paper presents the unique philosophy of Moshe Ben Joshua of Narbonne (d. 1362), known as Moshe Narboni. Narboni wrote some fifteen different treatises dealing with various subjects: philosophy, Kabbalah, Biblical exegesis and medicine. The philosophical issues he addressed were logic, psychology, physics and metaphysics. Narboni was a keen disciple of the outstanding Jewish thinker Moses Maimonides, as well as a devoted commentator on works written by prominent Muslim philosophers: Al-Ghazalī, Ibn Bajja (Avempace) Ibn .Tufayl and Ibn Rushd (Averroes). Narboni adopted the Averroistic view, held also by Maimonides, maintaining that religion was founded on philosophical principles, offering a popular adaptation of philosophy in favour of the uneducated mass. He thus felt that Judaism and Islam were both truthful monotheistic religions, teaching their adherents the same basic principles. However, he did regard Judaism as superior in three major aspects: i) Judaism is more ancient than Islam, and thus was the source for Islamic basic beliefs; ii) the Jewish law teaches the ideal way of life; iii) the Hebrew language lends to the concept of the Deity.
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