Without Any Doubt

Klein-Braslavy (emerita, Jewish philosophy, Tel Aviv U.) characterizes Levi ben Gershom (Provence, 1288-1344) as perhaps the most prolific polymath of all medieval Jewish philosophers. He was unique, she says, in considering the several facets of science, philosophy, religion, and other fields he studied as a unified whole, and she finds throughout an extraordinary attention to method of inquiry and composition. It is these aspects that she explores in eight articles previously published between 1989 and 2007, revised and when necessary translated from French or Hebrew originals. Among her topics are the solutions of the aporias in the Wars of the Land, dialectic in his commentary on Proverbs, the Alexandrian prologue paradigm in his writings, Gersonides as commentator on Averroes, and his view of the mode of communicating knowledge of the future to the dreamer and clairvoyant. Annotation c2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Sara Klein-Braslavy, Ph.D (1972), Sorbonne - Paris IV, is professor emerita of Jewish Philosophy at Tel Aviv University. She is the author of four books on Maimonides’ biblical exegesis and of numerous articles on Jewish medieval philosophy.