Thesis (doctoral)--Vrije Universiteit te Amsterdam, 1983. / Summary in Dutch. Includes indexes. Includes bibliographical references (p. [555]-569).

Thesis (doctoral)--Vrije Universiteit te Amsterdam, 1983. / Summary in Dutch. Includes indexes. Includes bibliographical references (p. [555]-569).

Thesis--ha-Universiṭah ha-ʻivrit bi-Yerushalayim. / Added t.p.: The thought of R. Zerahiah b. Isaac b. Shealtiel Hen & the Maimonidean-Tibbonian philosophy of the 13th century. Includes English summary. Bibliography: leaves 293-301.

This dissertation concentrates on those factors which form the doctrine of G-dly reward and punishment. In other words, the philosophical approach amongst Jewish thinkers from the Middle Ages to the above subject, which taken together give expression to the doctrine of reward and ptmishment, or at least to the possibility of determining such a doctrine. The definition of correct behaviour is not of interest for pwposes of this dissertation, nor is human judgement of behaviour, even according to a G-dly doctrine; only the A-lmighty's judgement and implementation thereof The following points are of note. Research into the specific approach of one individual philosopher is not the aim of this dissertation, but rather a collective crystallised viewpoint according to various different Jewish philosophers, in order to reach a harmonious formation of the desir~ goal. Hence the details are also important since they assist towards the goal. The views of the philsophers are of interest and not their source, viz. from whom these views were received or by whom the philosophers were influenced, as is usually the case in research. Nevertheless, this aspect is elaborated upon in the introduction to this dissertation, in the style of the customary academic research approach. An analytical comparison is made between the opinions of various authors, taking into account the finer points of their words, as well as between the differing opinions expressed by a single author in his various writings, and conclusions are drawn, the results of which are highly significant. Besides the fact that it is not within our power to adjudicate between the views of the great Jewish thinkers, this is even more true here, due to the metaphysical nature of the subject, which makes logical, rational-realistic judgement very difficult. Nevertheless, some criteria have been established for making such a decision. In summary, this dissertation is an attempt to research many diverse opinions in the treasury of Jewish thought from the Middle Ages, and to extract those opinions from which a complete system of the doctrine of reward and punishment can be built. / Religious Studies and Arabic / D.Litt et Phil. (Judaica)

This dissertation concentrates on those factors which form the doctrine of G-dly reward and punishment. In other words, the philosophical approach amongst Jewish thinkers from the Middle Ages to the above subject, which taken together give expression to the doctrine of reward and ptmishment, or at least to the possibility of determining such a doctrine. The definition of correct behaviour is not of interest for pwposes of this dissertation, nor is human judgement of behaviour, even according to a G-dly doctrine; only the A-lmighty's judgement and implementation thereof The following points are of note. Research into the specific approach of one individual philosopher is not the aim of this dissertation, but rather a collective crystallised viewpoint according to various different Jewish philosophers, in order to reach a harmonious formation of the desir~ goal. Hence the details are also important since they assist towards the goal. The views of the philsophers are of interest and not their source, viz. from whom these views were received or by whom the philosophers were influenced, as is usually the case in research. Nevertheless, this aspect is elaborated upon in the introduction to this dissertation, in the style of the customary academic research approach. An analytical comparison is made between the opinions of various authors, taking into account the finer points of their words, as well as between the differing opinions expressed by a single author in his various writings, and conclusions are drawn, the results of which are highly significant. Besides the fact that it is not within our power to adjudicate between the views of the great Jewish thinkers, this is even more true here, due to the metaphysical nature of the subject, which makes logical, rational-realistic judgement very difficult. Nevertheless, some criteria have been established for making such a decision. In summary, this dissertation is an attempt to research many diverse opinions in the treasury of Jewish thought from the Middle Ages, and to extract those opinions from which a complete system of the doctrine of reward and punishment can be built. / Religious Studies and Arabic / D.Litt et Phil. (Judaica)

Thesis (DPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Philo is a writer who lived in Alexandria in 30 BC – 50 AD. Traditionally scholars classified Philo as philosopher, exegete and apologist. With these classifications in mind, Philo’s works is read and interpreted. In this study a methodology of postmodernism (which is inherently a cultural historical understanding of reality) will be used, and it will become clear that this classification of the scholars is not satisfactory. The question that arises, is: How must Philo be read and understood in the context of a postmodern methodology? By means of a study of the logos-concept it is suggested that Philo must be understood as a threshold person, who stands on the cutting edges of the cultures in Alexandria; he therefore creates a new universe of symbols. In this new universe of symbols it is possible for the different cultures to communicate effectively, because they now have a joint vocabulary. Philo is not a postmodernist, but he makes use of techniques which occurs in post modern philosophy to create this new universe of symbols. Through the use of these techniques it becomes possible for the reader to take into account the different philosophical dimensions that are part of Philo’s thoughts. This helps the reader to understand the contradiction in Philo’s thought in connection with the logos-concept. It also helps the reader to place the logos-concept of Philo in its proper cultural historical background. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Filo is ’n skrywer wat in Aleksandrië gewoon het in die tydperk 30 vC – 50 nC. Tradisioneel het geleerdes Filo getipeer as filosoof, eksegeet en apologeet. Aan die hand van hierdie tiperings is Filo se werke dan gelees en geïnterpreteer. In hierdie studie word daar met ’n postmoderne metodologiese vertrekpunt gewerk (wat ten diepste gebaseer word op ’n kultuur historiese verstaan van die werklikheid) en word dit duidelik dat hierdie tiperings nie bevredigend is nie. Die vraag wat nou ontstaan, is: Hoe moet Filo dan gelees en verstaan word binne die raamwerk van ’n postmoderne metodologie? Aan die hand van ’n studie van die logos-begrip word daar voorgestel dat Filo gelees en verstaan moet word as ’n deurdrumpel-persoon, wat op die snypunt van al die verskillende kulture in Aleksandrië staan en daarom ’n nuwe simbole universum skep. Binne hierdie nuwe simbole universum kan verskillende kulture effektief met mekaar kommunikeer, aangesien hulle nou oor ’n gedeelde woordeskat beskik. Filo self was nie ’n postmodernis nie, maar hy maak wel van tegnieke gebruik wat ook voorkom in die postmoderne filosofie om hierdie nuwe simbole universum te skep. Deur middel van hierdie tegnieke is dit vir die leser moontlik om die verskillende filosofiese nuanses wat op Filo se denke ten opsigte van die logos ingewerk het, te verreken en om hierdie oënskynlike teenstrydighede in sy denke rakende die logos-begrip te verstaan teen die kultuur-historiese agtergrond waarbinne hy hom in Aleksandrië bevind.

In five chapters, this thesis traces the question of humanity in the thought of the French philosopher Emmanuel Lévinas, mainly in his works De l'évasion (1935), De l'existence à l'existant (1947), Totalité et infini (1961) and Éthique comme philosophie première (1982), which represent various stages of his philosophical development. It offers an exposition of Lévinas's most original concepts, follows their development and sketches their parallel and/or polemic concepts in the European thought, placing them within the context of Lévinas's life-work. For Lévinas, the question of humanity appears as a transpostition of the question of God, who can not become an object of rational inquiry. In conclusion, the question of humanity becomes the theological issue par excellence. This study tries to show how theology can draw inspiration from Lévinas's concepts in various manners: (1) methodology: Lévinas shows what happens to our thought when we follow the principle Sein-lassen in questionning God and when we take this principle as a basis of our theological research; (2) re-thinking: Lévinas offers a critical revision of traditional theological concepts and endows them with existential meaning, (3) marginalized phenomena: Lévinas thoroughly analyzes phenomena, which has been neglected or marginalized by the...

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 228-240).

Maïmonide (m. 601/1204) est resté sans doute une figure majeure du judaïsme rabbinique. Mais, sa connaissance de la philosophie fit de lui une référence indispensable dans la pensée philosophico-religieuse juive, chrétienne et musulmane. Son œuvre, riche et variée, témoigne de la jonction harmonieuse, dans un même esprit, d'une religiosité profonde, telle qu'elle s'exprime dans ses traités juridiques et théologiques, et d'une curiosité philosophique et métaphysique qui se révèle dans son œuvre Le Guide des égarés. La présente étude consiste à analyser les origines de la doctrine de la prophétie chez Maïmonide en puisant dans un premier temps, dans ses propres sources, pour les comparer dans un second temps aux références textuelles des philosophes musulmans tels que Fārābī, Ibn Sīnā et Ibn Bāğğa. Le chapitre I a pour objet la définition de la prophétie chez Maïmonide. Le chapitre II porte sur le rôle de l'imagination dans la prophétie. Le chapitre III est consacrée aux significations politiques de la prophétie. / Maimonides (d. 601/1204) is universally recognized as a leading rabbinic authority in Judaism. His eminence as a philosopher made him an indispensable source in Jewish, Christian and Islamic philosophical and religious thought. The present study aims to analyze the origins of the doctrine of prophecy in Maimonides' philosophy by studying, first, the original sources and then to compare them with the works completed by Muslim philosophers, most notably, Fārābī, Ibn Sīnā and Ibn Bāğğa. Chapter I addresses Maimonides' definition of prophecy. Chapter II examines the role of imagination in the prophecy. Chapter III is devoted to the political implications of prophecy.

Le Sefer Ha-ʻIqqarim de Joseph Albo qui a pour objet la définition des principes fondamentaux du Judaïsme s’inscrit dans une réflexion qui a commencé avec Sadia Gaon, qui s’est poursuivie avec Maimonide, Gersonides, Crescas, Duran. Dans le but de permettre au lecteur de se faire sa propre opinion, nous avons souhaité présenter et traduire l’oeuvre de Joseph Albo. Traduire l’ensemble du Sefer Ha-ʻIqqarim dépassant le cadre de notre projet, nous nous sommes contentés de traduire le premier traité qui présente la conception de Joseph Albo sur les principes fondamentaux et sa réduction à trois principes fondamentaux qui sont la croyance à l’existence de Dieu, la croyance à une révélation divine, et la croyance à la rétribution. Les trois traités suivant ne constituant qu’un approfondissement du premier, nous avons traduit un chapitre supplémentaire pour voir et comprendre comment Joseph Albo développe et approfondit le thème déjà ouvert dans le premier traité. C’est le troisième traité qui développe le second principe fondamental de la croyance à la révélation divine. / The Sefer Ha-ʻIqqarim of Joseph Albo which try to determine the basic principles of Judaism is part of a reflection that began with Sadia Gaon, which continued with Maimonides, Gersonides and Crescas Duran. To allow the reader to form his own opinion, we wanted to introduce and translate the work of Joseph Albo. Translating the whole of the Sefer Ha-ʻIqqarim exceeding the framework of our project, we simply translate the first treaty which presents the conception of Joseph Albo on fundamentals and its reduction to three fundamental principles which are the belief in the existence of God, the belief in a divine revelation, and the belief in retribution. The three following treaties being only a deepening of the first, we have translated an additional chapter to see and understand how Joseph Albo develops the theme already opened in the first treaty. This is the third treaty that develops the second fundamental principle of belief in the divine revelation.