Spinoza and the Medieval Jewish Philosophers

Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677) was born and educated in the Portuguese Jewish community of Amsterdam. The influence of medieval Jewish philosophy on him was formative. He studied the major Jewish philosophers, like Rabbis Abraham ibn Ezra and Moses Maimonides, long before he read contemporary European philosophers, like René Descartes and Thomas Hobbes. He was put under the ban (ḥerem) in 1656. However, even in his last years he continued to study Hebrew books. Spinoza's philosophic position is often 'Maimonidean' but sometimes 'anti-Maimonidean.' In this Element, the author discusses Spinoza's debt to Saadia Gaon, Rashi and Pseudo-Rashi, Judah Halevi, Abraham ibn Ezra, Moses Maimonides, Abraham Abulafia, Joseph Kaspi, Isaac Polgar, Levi Gersonides, Ḥasdai Crescas, Profayt Duran alias Efodi, and Joseph Albo.