Free will in the thought of R. Abraham bar Yehuda (student of Hasdai Crescas)

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyze the opinion of R. Abraham bar Yehudah (Crete and the Crown of Aragon in the second half of the 14th century) on the question of free will. The first part of the article describes how in the beginning of his book (Even Shetiyyah, 'Foundation Stone'), R. Abraham presents a position close to the deterministic thought of his well known teacher Hasdai Crescas, thus proving that in the third quarter of the 14th century there already were deterministic views in the school of the later. The second part of the article demonstrates that in the continuation of this book R. Abraham presents a different opinion closer to the common non-deterministic position of the majority of Jewish medieval philosophers. The article concludes, explaining the contradiction, that in his book R. Abraham bar Yehuda brings in two different opinions from different sources without trying to build an accord between them.

Original languageAmerican English
Pages (from-to)75-88
Number of pages14
JournalSefarad
Volume74
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2014
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Avner of Burgos
  • Determinism
  • Free will
  • Hasdai Crescas
  • Medieval Jewish philosophy

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Cultural Studies
  • Language and Linguistics
  • History
  • Religious studies
  • Linguistics and Language
  • Literature and Literary Theory

Cite this