Course information
This course proposes an introduction to the problem raised by the encounter of the philosophical and Jewish (rabbinical) tradition. It will be based on readings of texts by major authors of the corpus (Saadia Gaon, Bahya Ibn Paquda, Yehuda Halevi, Maimonides, Gersonides and finally Spinoza as a post-Maimonidean philosopher) and will emphasize the transformative effect of this encounter on the self-comprehension of the Jewish tradition.
About the Teacher
David Lemler is an Associate Professor in Medieval Jewish thought at Sorbonne Université, Paris/LEM, UMR8584, CNRS. His field of study is mainly Maimonidean and post-Maimonidean philosophy. His research emphasizes the specific way Medieval Jewish philosophers wrote: he dedicated a monograph to the diverse writing strategies used by Jewish philosophers from Saadia Gaon to Hasday Crescas to deal with the debate on the eternity vs the creation of the world (Création du monde et limites du langage. Sur l’art d’écrire des philosophes juifs médiévaux, Paris, Vrin, 2020). His last book, L’invention du judaïsme. Comment les Juifs se définissent eux-mêmes (Paris, Albin Michel, 2025; The invention of Judaism. How Jews Defines Themselves), analyses the way Jewish philosophy helped form the comprehension the Jews have of their own tradition.