In defence of Judaism: Abraham Ibn Daud : : sources and structures of ha-Emunah ha-Ramah / / T.A.M. Fontaine.

• Author: Fontaine, Resianne, 1953-
• Place / Publishing House: Assen/Maastricht, the Netherlands : : Van Gorcum,, 1990.
• Year of Publication: 1990
• Language: English; Hebrew; Dutch
• Series: Studia Semitica Neerlandica 26.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (334 pages)

This study presents a thematic investigation of Ibn Daud's philosophical treatise ha-Emunah ha-Ramah [The Exalted Faith]. It examines the question whether current interpretation is correct in assuming that the thesis is primarily concerned with working out a synthesis between philosophy and religion, or whether, as Ibn Daud indicates at te beginning of the book, it is basically concerned with the problem of free will. In order to answer this question the author examines the structure of Ibn Daud's philosophical work by analysing its topics and their interrelation, and by paying attention to Ibn Daud's use of Biblical verses. Furthermore the study focuses on the Jewish and Islamic sources on which Ibn Daud drew, as well as the way in which he incorporated the philosophy of the Islamic Aristotelians al-Farabi and Ibn Sina into his own thought.

Table of Contents

Preliminary Material -- Introduction -- Ibn Daud’s motivation -- Substance and accident: the categories -- Matter and form -- Motion and infinity -- The soul -- God and his attributes -- The heavenly spheres and the intelligences -- Prophecy -- The degrees of providence -- The freedom of the will -- Ethics -- Recapitulation and conclusions -- Notes -- Concordance of editions of ha-Emunah ha-Ramah -- Abbreviations and bibliography -- General Index.