This book is the first complete English translation of Hasdai Crescas's Light of the Lord, widely acknowledged as a seminal work of medieval Jewish philosophy, one second in importance only to Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed. In it Crescas takes on not only Maimonides but, through him, Aristotle, and challenges views of physics and metaphysics that had become entrenched in medieval thought. Once the Aristotelian underpinnings of medieval thought are dislodged, Crescas introduces alternative physical views and reinstates the classical Jewish God as a God of love and benefaction rather than a self-intellecting intellect. The end for humankind then is to become attached in love to the God of love through devoted service.

About the Author
Roslyn Weiss is the Clara H. Stewardson Professor of Philosophy at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA. She holds a doctorate in philosophy from Columbia University and an MA in Jewish Studies from the Baltimore Hebrew University. She has published four books on Plato and 50 scholarly articles on mainly Greek and Jewish philosophy.

Reviews
Apart from partial translations by Warren Harvey and Harry Wolfson, the English-speaking student of (late) medieval Jewish philosophy has had limited access to the text. Thanks to Roslyn Weiss's felicitous new translation, this is no longer the case. * Daniel Frank, Journal of the History of Philosophy *
...this translation will hopefully inspire further serious work in Jewish philosophy, and draw others in the English-speaking world into Jewish philosophy. The translation comes not a moment to soon. That there has not been a complete translation until now is scandalous. The future of Jewish philosophy will be deeply indepted to Roslyn Weiss. * Tyron Goldschmidt, Religious Studies *



Book Information
ISBN 9780198724896
Author Roslyn Weiss
Format Hardback
Page Count 388
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 742g
Dimensions(mm) 242mm * 162mm * 27mm