Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Ibn Kaspi, Joseph

Born: 1280, Provence region, likely in Arles

Died: 1345, Majorca

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy

  • 49 Accesses

Abstract

Josef Ibn Kaspi lived in Provence and traveled in Egypt, Majorca, Aragon, and Castile. He probably made his living through moneylending, with the help of his wife. He wrote more than 25 different books, the majority of which deal with Biblical exegesis, Hebrew grammar, and moral philosophy. He also wrote two commentaries on the Guide of the Perplexed and commentaries on Plato’s Republic and Aristotle’s Ethics. In terms of philosophy, R. Kaspi was a member of the Averroist trend in Jewish thought. As some other members of this school, R. Kaspi wrote in an “esoteric” way. Moreover, he seemingly contradicted himself on a number of subjects, making it difficult to elicit and understand his true philosophical positions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

Primary Literature

  • Gevia‘ ha-Kesef, Treatise on esoteric topics in the book of Genesis, with English translation, ed. B.E. Herring. New York 1982.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rock, A. 2007. R. Yosef Ibn Kaspi’s Biblical Exegesis: Exegetical Methodology and a Critical Annotated Edition of Mazref La-Kesef on Genesis. Ph.D. dissertation, Bar Ilan (Hebrew).

    Google Scholar 

  • Terumat Kesef, in A. Sackson, Josef Ibn Kaspi, Portrait of a Hebrew Philosopher in Medieval Provence, 28–71. Ph.D. Dissertation, NYU 2016.

    Google Scholar 

Secondary Literature

  • Ben Shalom, R. 2010. An (unwritten) diary of Joseph Ibn Kaspi’s journey to the East: Images and orientalism. Pe’amim 124: 7–51 (Hebrew).

    Google Scholar 

  • Kahan, M. 2016. Joseph Ibn Kaspi – New biographical Data. Pe’amim 145: 143–166 (Hebrew).

    Google Scholar 

  • Kasher, H. (ed). 1996. Introduction to edition of R. Kaspi’s Shulhan Kesef. Jerusalem (Hebrew).

    Google Scholar 

  • Mesch, B. (ed). 1975. Studies in Joseph Ibn Caspi: Fourteenth-century philosopher and exegete. Leiden.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Be’er Scheva, Israel

    Shalom Sadik

Authors
  1. Shalom Sadik
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shalom Sadik .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Philosophy a. Cultural Heritage, Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia Dept. of Philosophy a. Cultural Heritage, Venezia, Italy

    Marco Sgarbi

Section Editor information

  1. Finnish Center of Political Thought & Conceptual Change, JYVÄSKYLÄN YLIOPISTO, Finland

    Vasileios Syros

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Sadik, S. (2019). Ibn Kaspi, Joseph. In: Sgarbi, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02848-4_29-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02848-4_29-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-02848-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-02848-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Religion and PhilosophyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Humanities

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation