Arbib, Dan

Philosophy and Revelation in Judah Halevi’s Kuzari (1075-1141) - 2015.


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In his major work, the Kuzari, Judah Halevi develops a specific criticism of philosophy, arguing in favour of the Revelation on Mount Sinaï. With this article we will attempt to show that this criticism is linked to the historical situation of the Jews that provoked the writing of the Kuzari (I), that it targets a very ascribable form of philosophy (II) which it replaces with History (III). In so doing, Judah Halevi is certainly not renouncing all intellectual rigour, but aims to demonstrate such rigour by placing philosophy within its proper context (IV). This analysis intends to draw upon, perhaps quite narrowly, a current of thought that held, throughout the Middle Ages, an original and relatively lasting position, in order to shed some light on the stakes involved in the relationships between faith and reason in Jewish medieval philosophy in the muslim world.