Religion 307: Select Bibliography of Jewish Philosophy in English

(also use Sirat, 1985)

Ron Kiener
Updated: January 2003
 

A. Encyclopedias:

Encyclopaedia Judaica. Jerusalem, 1972. 16 vols. & supplements.
The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York, 1907. 12 vols.

B. Journals and periodicals:

Daat. [Mostly Hebrew articles].
Hebrew Union College Annual.
Jewish Quarterly Review.
Journal of Jewish Studies.
Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy.
Association for Jewish Studies review.
Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam
Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Thought [usually articles in Hebrew; but with English summaries]

C. Reference:

Berman, L. "Medieval Jewish Religious Philosophy" in Bibliographical Essays in Medieval Jewish Studies. New York, 1976. Frank, D. & O. Leaman (eds.) History of Jewish Philosophy. London, 1997.
Guttmann, J. Philosophies of Judaism. New York, 1964.
Husik, I. A History of Medieval Jewish Philosophy. Philadelphia, 1916; New York, 1940.
Sirat, C. A History of Jewish Philosophy in the Middle Ages. Cambridge, 1985.

D. Texts in translation:

Lewy, H., A. Altmann & I. Heinemann (eds.) Three Jewish Philosophers: Philo, Saadya Gaon, Jehuda Halevi. New York, 1969.
Philo of Alexandria. Philo. Tr. by F. Colson & G. Whitaker. Cambridge [MA], 1956-62. 12 vols.
--------.The Contemplative Life, the Giants, and Selections. Tr. by D. Winston. New York, 1981.
Saadia b. Joseph (Gaon). The Book of Beliefs and Opinions. Tr. by S. Rosenblatt. New Haven, 1948.
Bahya ben Joseph Ibn Pakudah. The Book of Direction in the Duties of the Heart. Tr. M. Mansoor. London, 1973.
Abraham Bar Hiyya. The Meditation of the Sad Soul. Tr. G. Wigoder. New York, 1969.
Judah Halevi. The Kuzari. Tr. by H. Hirschfeld. London, 1905.
Abraham Ibn Daud. The Exalted Faith. Trs. N. Samuelson & G. Weiss. Cranbury [NJ], 1986.
Maimonides (Moses b. Maimon). The Guide of the Perplexed. Tr. by S. Pines. Chicago, 1963.
--------. A Maimonides Reader. Ed. I. Twersky. New York, 1975.
--------. Crisis and Leadership: Epistles of Maimonides. Tr. A. Halkin. Philadelphia, 1985.
Gersonides (Levi b. Gerson). The Wars of the Lord. Various trs. Philadelphia, 1985-.
Albo, Joseph. Sefer ha-Ikkarim: Book of Principles. Tr, I. Husik. Philadelphia, 1930. 5 vols.
Abravanel, I. Principles of Faith. Tr. M. Kellner. Rutherford, 1982.
Spinoza, B. Theologico-Political Treatise. Tr. R. Elwes. New York, 1951.
Glatzer, N. (ed.) Modern Jewish Thought: A Source Reader. New York, 1977.
Mendelssohn, M. Jerusalem, or, On Religious Power and Judaism. Tr. A. Arkush. Hanover [NH], 1983.
Cohen, H. Religion of Reason Out of the Sources of Judaism. Tr. S. Kaplan. New York, 1972.
Hirsch, S. R. Judaism Eternal. Tr. I Grunfeld. London, 1959.
Rosenzeig, F. The Star of Redemption. New York, 1970.
Buber, M. I and Thou. Edinburgh, 1937.
--------. On Judaism. New York, 1967.
Soloveitchik, J. B. Halachic Man. Tr. L. Kaplan. Philadelphia, 1984.

E. Studies:

1. General Studies & Methodology

Goodman, L. Jewish and Islamic Philosophy: Crosspollinations in the Classic Age. New Brunswick, 1999.
Ivry, A., E. Wolfson & A. Arkush (eds.) Perspectives on Jewish Thought and Mysticism. Amsterdam, 1998.
Jospe, A. (ed.) Studies in Jewish Thought: An Anthology of German Jewish Scholarship. Detroit, 1981.
Pines, S. Studies in the History of Jewish Thought. Jerusalem, 1997.
Strauss, L. Persecution and the Art of Writing. Glencoe [IL], 1952.
Twersky, I. (ed.) Studies in Jewish Law and Philosophy. New York, 1982.
Wolfson, H. A. Studies in the History of Philosophy and Religion. Cambridge [MA] 1973-77. 2 vols.

2. Hellenistic Jewish Philosophy

Wolfson, H. A. Philo: Foundations of Religious Philosophy in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Cambridge [MA], 1948.

3. Jewish Kalam

Efros, I. "Saadia's Theory of Knowledge" in JQR n.s. 33 (1942-3): 133-170.
Heschel, A. "Reason and Revelation in Saadia's Philosophy" in JQR n.s. 34 (1944): 391-408.
--------. "The Quest for Certainty in Saadia's Philosophy" in JQR n.s. 33 (1942-3): 265-313.
Malter, H. Saadia Gaon: His Life and Works. Philadelphia, 1926.
Rosenthal, I. (ed.) Saadya Studies. Manchester, 1943.
Wolfson, H. A. The Philosophy of the Kalam. Cambridge [MA], 1976.
--------. Repercussions of Kalam in Jewish Philosophy. Cambridge [MA], 1979.

4. Jewish Neoplatonism

Altmann, A. & I. Stern. Isaac Israeli: A Neoplatonic Philosopher of the Early Tenth Century. New York, 1958.
Goodman, L. (ed.) Neoplatonism and Jewish Thought. Albany, 1992.
Pines, S. "Shi`ite Terms and Conceptions in Judah Halevi's Kuzari" in JSAI 2 (1980): 165-251.
Silman, Y. Philosopher and Prophet: Judah Halevi, the Kuzari, and the Evolution of his Thought. Albany, 1995.

5. Jewish Aristotelianism

Davidson, H. "Maimonides' Secret Position on Creation" in Studies in Medieval Jewish History and Literature. Ed. I. Twersky. Cambridge [MA], 1979: 16-40.
Faur, J. Homo Mysticus: A Guide to Maimonides's Guide for the Perplexed. Syracuse, 1999.
Feldman, S. "Gersonides' Proofs for the Creation of the Universe" in PAAJR 35 (1967): 113-137.
Fox, M. Interpreting Maimonides. Chicago, 1990.
Heschel, A. Maimonides; A Biography. New York, 1982.
Hyman, A. "Maimonides' 'Thirteen Principles'" in Jewish Medieval and Renaissance Studies. Ed. A. Altmann. Cambridge [MA], 1967: 119-144.
Kraemer, J. (ed.) Perspectives on Maimonides. London, 1996.
Ravitzky, A. "The Secrets of the Guide to the Perplexed: Between the Thirteenth and Twentieth Centuries" in Studies in Maimonides. Ed. I. Twersky. Cambridge [MA], 1991: 159-207.
Silver, D. Maimonidean Criticism and the Maimonidean Controversy. Leiden, 1965.
Twersky, I. (ed.) Studies in Maimonides. Cambridge [MA], 1991.
--------. Introduction to the Code of Maimonides (Mishneh Torah). New Haven, 1980.
Wolfson, H. A. Crescas' Critique of Aristotle. Cambridge [MA], 1929.

6. Late Medieval & Early Modern Jewish Philosophy

Cooperman, B. (ed.) Jewish Thought in the Sixteenth Century. Cambridge [MA], 1983.
Twersky, I. (ed.) Jewish Thought in the Seventeenth Century. Cambridge [MA], 1987.
Wolfson, H. A. The Philosophy of Spinoza. Cambridge [MA], 1934.

7. Modern Jewish Philosophy

Berkovits, Eliezer. Faith After the Holocaust. New York, 1973.
Cohen, Arthur Allen. The Tremendum: A Theological Interpretation of the Holocaust. New York, 1981.
Fackenheim, Emil L. To Mend the World: Foundations of Future Jewish Thought. New York, 1982.
Heschel, A. J. God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism. New York, 1956.
Noveck, S. Great Jewish Thinkers of the Twentieth Century. Clinton [NJ], 1963.
Rubenstein, R. L. After Auschwitz. Indianapolis, 1966.