"Prisca Philosophia" and "Docta Religio": The Boundaries of Rational Knowledge in Jewish and Christian Humanist Thought

In the second half of the 15th century, Christian humanist appraisal of "Hebraica veritas" motivated Jewish scholars to accept several features of this appraisal from their Christian colleagues. In particular the concept of "prisca philosophia" (ancient philosophy) was stressed i...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Lelli, Fabrizio (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: Penn Press 2000
In: The Jewish quarterly review
Year: 2000, Volume: 91, Issue: 1/2, Pages: 53-99
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)

MARC

LEADER 00000naa a22000002 4500
001 1802090681
003 DE-627
005 20220517053729.0
007 cr uuu---uuuuu
008 220517s2000 xx |||||o 00| ||eng c
024 7 |a 10.2307/1454787  |2 doi 
035 |a (DE-627)1802090681 
035 |a (DE-599)KXP1802090681 
040 |a DE-627  |b ger  |c DE-627  |e rda 
041 |a eng 
084 |a 1  |2 ssgn 
100 1 |a Lelli, Fabrizio  |e VerfasserIn  |4 aut 
245 1 0 |a "Prisca Philosophia" and "Docta Religio": The Boundaries of Rational Knowledge in Jewish and Christian Humanist Thought 
264 1 |c 2000 
336 |a Text  |b txt  |2 rdacontent 
337 |a Computermedien  |b c  |2 rdamedia 
338 |a Online-Ressource  |b cr  |2 rdacarrier 
520 |a In the second half of the 15th century, Christian humanist appraisal of "Hebraica veritas" motivated Jewish scholars to accept several features of this appraisal from their Christian colleagues. In particular the concept of "prisca philosophia" (ancient philosophy) was stressed in order to point out the superiority and greater antiquity of Jewish culture over rational thought. In addition, Christian humanists were eager to read Jewish kabbalah as a doctrine allegedly attributed to prophetically inspired personages so that they could incorporate it into the prisca "philosophia" tradition. By turning to prophetic writings that supposedly predated the Platonic and Aristotelian texts, Jews and Christians were trying to prove the superior nature of theology to rational thought. To this end, scholars belonging to both religions outlined a common intellectual program aiming to overcome the boundaries of human reason in order to attain mystic union with God. Yoḥanan ben Isaac Alemanno (c. 1435 - c. 1504), Italian Jewish exegete, philosopher, and kabbalist, spent most of his life in Northern Italy, especially in Florence, where he met the outstanding humanist Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, with whom he established a long-lasting relationship. In this article I analyze the affinities between Alemanno's and Pico's understanding of issues related to the boundaries of human rational knowledge. The article is followed by a translation of the still unedited 44th chapter of Alemanno's encyclopedic masterwork "Ḥay ha-ʿOlamim," which is devoted to the issues of concern in this article. The English version is accompanied by a reproduction of Alemmano's autograph manuscript now in the Biblioteca della Comunità Ebraica presso la Biblioteca Comunale, Mantua. 
601 |a religio 
601 |a Knowledge 
601 |a Humanist 
773 0 8 |i Enthalten in  |t The Jewish quarterly review  |d Philadelphia, Pa. : Penn Press, 1888  |g 91(2000), 1/2, Seite 53-99  |h Online-Ressource  |w (DE-627)369554582  |w (DE-600)2119232-7  |w (DE-576)121599566  |x 1553-0604  |7 nnns 
773 1 8 |g volume:91  |g year:2000  |g number:1/2  |g pages:53-99 
856 4 0 |u https://doi.org/10.2307/1454787  |x Resolving-System  |z lizenzpflichtig  |3 Volltext 
856 4 0 |u https://www.jstor.org/stable/1454787  |x Verlag  |z lizenzpflichtig  |3 Volltext 
935 |a mteo 
936 u w |d 91  |j 2000  |e 1/2  |h 53-99 
951 |a AR 
ELC |a 1 
ITA |a 1  |t 1 
LOK |0 000 xxxxxcx a22 zn 4500 
LOK |0 001 4134992699 
LOK |0 003 DE-627 
LOK |0 004 1802090681 
LOK |0 005 20220517053729 
LOK |0 008 220517||||||||||||||||ger||||||| 
LOK |0 035   |a (DE-Tue135)IxTheo#2022-05-04#0ABA6E35D43DF1A1C6AD9D751BCD555007546F88 
LOK |0 040   |a DE-Tue135  |c DE-627  |d DE-Tue135 
LOK |0 092   |o n 
LOK |0 852   |a DE-Tue135 
LOK |0 852 1  |9 00 
LOK |0 935   |a ixzs  |a ixrk  |a zota 
ORI |a SA-MARC-ixtheoa001.raw