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Political Philosophy, Jewish

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Encyclopedia of Medieval Philosophy

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Abstract

Medieval Jewish political philosophy is the outcome of the encounter between Jewish political theology, based on biblical and rabbinic literature, on the one hand, and Greek political philosophy, notably Platonic, on the other. Jewish scholars encountered the Platonic heritage through Arabic translations, summaries, and commentaries of The Republic and The Laws, produced between the tenth and late twelfth centuries by Muslim scholars, notably al-Fārābī, Ibn Bājja, and Averroes. The political aspects of the Hebrew Bible and rabbinic literature were now interpreted in the prism of these influences. The Hebrew prophet was identified with the Platonic active philosopher; the Jewish king and king-messiah were described in terms of the Platonic philosopher-king, and the reign of Solomon, which will be reestablished with the coming of the messiah, was described as an ideal Platonic state, reinterpreted in theological terms.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Jewish History and Thought, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel

    Abraham Melamed

Authors
  1. Abraham Melamed
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada

    Henrik Lagerlund

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© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

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Melamed, A. (2011). Political Philosophy, Jewish. In: Lagerlund, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Medieval Philosophy. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9729-4_412

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9729-4_412

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-9728-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-9729-4

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