Philosopher-King in Medieval and Renaissance Jewish Political Thought, The / Abraham Melamed ; edited and with a foreword by Lenn E. Goodman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Melamed, Abraham, 1944-

Contributor:

Goodman, Lenn Evan, 1944-

Series:

SUNY series in Jewish philosophy The philosopher-king in medieval and Renaissance Jewish thought

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Plato--Political and social views.

Plato.

Jews--Civilization--Greek influences.

Jews.

Political science--Philosophy--History.

Political science.

Jewish philosophy--History.

Jewish philosophy.

Philosopher-kings.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xvi, 271 p. :)

Place of Publication:

Albany : State University of New York Press, [2003]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This 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:

Front Matter

Contents

Foreword

Preface

Philosopher, King, Prophet

The Sources

First Influences

The Class System

Transmission

Adaptation

Application

Christian Applications and the Machiavellian Revolution

Rejection

Afterword

The Hebrew Versions of the Philosopher Kingʼs Virtues

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 199-264) and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780791487709

0791487709

OCLC:

794701344