Gersonides

Abstract

Rabbi Levi ben Gershom (1288–1344) is an important Jewish philosopher of the Middle Ages who lived almost a century after Moses Maimonides. More than any of his predecessors, he is known for advocating a form of Aristotelian Judaism, which synthesizes reason and faith and counters the relative skepticism of Maimonides. Describing God and the universe as perfectly ordered and teleological, this led him to conclude that God does not know particulars as particulars, but particulars as universals. Although he viewed the interpretation of the stars as providing some guidance for individuals, he believed that human beings are endowed with the freedom to strive for preservation of the body and immortality of the soul. In his conception, the Torah's laws and narratives are God's providential gift to humanity, which guides them to more easily achieve these two goals.