Hasdai Crescas’s critique of the theory of the acquired intellect

577 Pages·1973·21.05 MB·English

by  Warren Harvey

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74-1488
HARVEY, Warren, 1943-
HASDAI CRESCAS'S CRITIQUE OF THE THEORY OF
THE ACQUIRED INTELLECT.
Columbia University, Ph.D., 1973
Philosophy
University Microfilms, A XEROX Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan
© Copyright by
Warren Harvey
1973
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HASDAI CRESCAS'S CRITIQUE OF THE THEORY
OF THE ACQUIRED INTELLECT
Warren Harvey
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
in the Faculty of Philosophy
Columbia University
1973
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ABSTRACT
HASDAI CRESCAS'S CRITIQUE OF THE THEORY
OF THE ACQUIRED INTELLECT
Warren Harvey
The Ccitalan Jewish philosopher Hasdai Crescas (c.
1340-1410 [?]), author of the Hebrew classic The Light of
the Lord, is remembered in the history of ideas usually as
a revolutionary critic of Aristotelian physics or as a rebel
whose theories profoundly influenced Spinoza. However,
Crescas was not a rationalist but an opponent of rationalism.
A pious rabbi, a brilliant talmudist, the political leader
of Aragonese Jewry and the spiritual leader of all Spanish
Jewry, his contributions to science and philosophy may be
seen as part of his work to reconstruct the Jewish communities
of Spain after the massacres of 1391 in which tens of thousands
of Spanish Jews were murdered and perhaps as many as 200,000
were converted to Christianity. In Crescas's view,
Aristotelian-Maimonidean philosophy was subversive to basic
principles of Judaism and was weakening Jewish commitment at a
critical time; thus his opposition to it was motivated not
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only by intellectual concerns, but also by religious and
political ones.
In this dissertation, Crescas's critique of a funda­
mental Aristotelian-Maimonidean theory is examined; viz.,
the psychological and epistemological theory of the acquired
intellect. The brunt of Crescas's critique appears in Light,
II, 6, 1.
In Part I of the dissertation, the theory of the
acquired intellect is presented as understood by Crescas.
The theory contains two propositions which, according to
Crescas, were held by all Jewish Aristotelians: (1) By
knowing, man acquires an immortal intellect, thus gaining
eternal happiness; (2) In this state of eternal happiness,
there is delight in knowledge. Crescas distinguishes two
versions of the theory, without naming their proponents.
According to Version I, identifiable on literary grounds as
the unusual view held by Gersonides, any knowledge suffices
to bring an acquired intellect into existence. According to
Version II, identifiable as the usual view held by Maimonides,
only knowledge of incorporeal things suffices. Both versions
are, in Crescas's judgment, reproachable because, in teaching
that human immortality is attained by knowledge (as opposed to
by the performance of the commandments of the Law of Moses),
they subjugate Judaism to philosophy.
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In Part II of the dissertation, Crescas's critique
of the theory of the acquired intellect is analyzed. The
critique is twofold: according to the Law of Moses, and
according to philosophic speculation. According to the Law
of Moses: The theory contradicts the proposition that the
actual performance of a commandment has intrinsic worth; it
fails to make sense out of beliefs concerning reward and
punishment in the afterlife; and while it teaches that deeds
(the performance of the commandments) are for the sake of
knowledge, the rabbis taught the reverse, that knowledge is
for the sake of deeds. According to philosophic speculation:
The theory denies teleology and contradicts divine justice in
that by assigning worth only to the separate intellect, it
reduces man the animal to a purposeless species; and its
assertion that the intellect comes to be out of its intelli-
gibilia involves many logico-conceptual absurdities.
In the Conclusion of the dissertation, attention is
drawn to the relationship of Crescas's critique of the theory
of the acquired intellect to his own theory of the soul of
man. According to him, the soul is perfected not by knowledge
but by love.
The dissertation is followed by three excursus:
(1) On Hasdai Crescas's Understanding of Maimonides' Via
Negativa; (2) Maimonides' Discussion of the Equivocal Term
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Adam; (3) Is There a Commandment Concerning God's Existence?
Crescas Contra Maimonides .
Appended to the dissertation are a critical Hebrew
text and an annotated English translation of relevant portions
of the Light, including all of the Introduction; II, 6, 1;
IIIA, 2; IV, 7, 8, 11, 13; and excerpts from I, 3, 3; II,
1, 1; 1, 2; 1, 4; 2, 2; 2, 3; 4, 1; 5, 5; IIIA, 3, 1;
3, 3; 4, 2; 4, 4; IIIB, 1, 2; 2, 2.
The Bibliography contains works cited in the disserta­
tion or in the notes to the texts and translations.
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nia ’“inn nor?:1? “n
,n"nn ')3 3 , T’onn
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
INTRODUCTION....................................... 1
Part I - THE THEORY................................ 28
Part. II - THE CRITIQUE............................. 104
CONCLUSION........................................... 180
EXCURSUS I - On Hasdai Crescas’s Understanding
Of Maimonides1 Via Negativa'........ 189
EXCURSUS II - Maimonides' Discussion of the
equivocal term Adam................ 205
EXCURSUS III - Is There a Commandment Concerning
God's Existence?
Crescas Contra Maimonides.......... 218
APPENDIX
A - Hebrew Texts from Hasdai Crescas's
The Light of the Lord, Concerning the
Theory of the Acquired Intellect........ 230
B - Translation of Texts..................... 341
SCHEMATIC TABLE OF CONTENTS, THE LIGHT OF THE LORD
(Hebrew)............................................. 550
SCHEMATIC TABLE OF CONTENTS, THE LIGHT OF THE LORD
(English)........................................... 551
BIBLIOGRAPHY.................................. 552
ii
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NOTE
References in this dissertation to those texts
from Hasdai Crescas, the Light of the Lord, which appear
in Appendix A (and are translated in Appendix B) are given
by page and line. The page numbers refer to the sectional
pagination in Appendix A (viz., the numbers at the top
center of the Hebrew pages) and not to the consecutive
pagination of the dissertation (viz., the numbers at the
top right of the pages) . These sectional page numbers
appear in square brackets in the translations of the texts
in Appendix B. The line numbers, however, appear in
Appendix A alone.
It should be noted that since in Appendix B square
brackets are used not only to enclose additions by the
translator but also to enclose the sectional page numbers
of the corresponding Hebrew texts, minor confusions some­
times arise; e.g., on p. 410.
References to those texts from the Light which
appear with translations in Wolfson, Crescas 1 Critique of
Aristotle, are given to the pages of that work.
Other references to the Light are given without
pagination.
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