Teleology in Jewish Philosophy

Abstract

Abstract Medieval and early modern Jewish philosophers developed their thinking in conversation with various bodies of literature. The influence of ancient Greek and Arabic sources was fundamental to the very constitution of medieval Jewish philosophical discourse. Toward the late Middle Ages, Jewish philosophers also established a critical dialogue with Christian Scholastics. In addition to these philosophical corpora, Jewish philosophers drew significantly upon rabbinic sources and the Hebrew Bible. In order to clarify the unique as well as shared elements in the thought of medieval Jewish philosophers, this chapter begins with a brief study of some early rabbinic sources on the purpose of the world. The second part of this chapter studies Maimonides’s critique of the veracity and usefulness of the belief in (anthropocentric) teleology, and the critical reception of his views by later philosophers. The third part addresses discussions of divine teleology in Kabbalistic literature. The fourth and final section elucidates Spinoza’s critique of teleology, its precise target and scope, and its debt to earlier sources discussed in this chapter.