This book investigates various aspects of the controversial relations between Spinoza's philosophy and his Jewish background. It examines some important trends of medieval Jewish philosophy on the shaping of Spinoza's thought - particularly the impact of Maimonides. The book elucidates the differences between Spinoza and his predecessors in regard to Bible criticism, and dwells extensively on the concepts of Substance and Pantheism. It also discusses Spinoza's views of Judaism and the Jewish people, the relationship between state and religion, and some (...) problems of his -Hebrew Grammar-.". (shrink)

The book elucidates the complex relationship between Jewish philosophy and general philosophy. At the same time it examines Jewish philosophy as an independent discipline of thought. The issue of particular and characteristic problems of Jewish thought is taken up in the third part of the book. Other philosophical topics - from the general as well as the Jewish angle - are the quiddity of philosophy, its aims and tasks, its value and purpose, and the relations between philosophy, religion and theology, (...) as reflected in general and Jewish thought. The concluding sections of the book highlight several basic problems of Jewish philosophy: its sources of inspiration and its influence, the motifs for philosophizing, the relation between reason and revelation, and lastly, the principal transformations in Jewish philosophy with the passage from medievalism to modernity. (shrink)