מוסר טבעי ותורת משה בהגות של ר' יוסף אבן כספי

Rabbi Josef Ibn Kaspi (1280-1345) was one of the most prominent commentators among the radical philosophers in Medieval Provence. In this article we will see his position on natural law through his different works. We will see that according to R. Kaspi, there exists in principle some perfect natural law, a best law for all places and all times. However, due to the different circumstances faced by people throughout the generations, no particular historic state could take this law as their constitution. All societies have practical considerations affecting the conduct of their populations and interfering with implementing the perfect law in their society’s legislation. For R. Kaspi, even the Law of Moses diverges from the perfect natural law, initially because of the influence of the then-surrounding cultures on the Jews when they first came out of Egypt, and later, due to changing situations over the course of Jewish history. The dialectic between ideal and reality is the reason that the Law of Moses has had to evolve. Nevertheless, these adjustments had to be hidden from the common people, in Kaspi’s opinion, for if the masses were to understand that the Law of Moses constantly adjusts to circumstances, they would choose to change the law according to their corporeal temptations. This is the reason that Moses wrote in Deuteronomy (4: 2) “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish from it.”