GIORDANO BRUNO AND JEWISH THOUGHT: RECEPTION AND REINTERPRETATION

Abstract

This article is focused on the philosopher Giordano Bruno (1548-1600) and the references to Jewish culture in his oeuvre. We discuss about Bruno’s reception of Jewish thought and describe this subject in a comprehensive way. We highlight Bruno’s view on the Jews and their religion, also explaining the reasons behind his polemic against the Jewish people. Furthermore, we underline the influence of the Kabbalistic tradition and Jewish philosophy on various aspects of Brunian thought. Specifically, we discuss about the use of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet in Bruno’s works on the art of memory, the relation between Brunian infinitist cosmology and Kabbalistic concepts such as ensoph and the ten sephirot, the relation between Brunian thought and the philosophical theories of Avicebron, Moses Maimonides, Hasdai Crescas and Leo the Hebrew.