Isaac ibn Latif

Isaak ben Abraham ibn Latif , in short Isaak ibn Latif (* around 1210 ; † probably around 1282 ) was a Neoplatonically oriented Jewish philosopher of the Middle Ages.

Isaac probably came from Toledo , which at that time was the capital of the Christian kingdom of Castile . However, he was brought up according to the cultural tradition of Judaism prevailing in the Arab part of the Iberian Peninsula ( Al-Andalus ) and therefore also mastered the Arabic language. After dedicating his early adult years to business life, he turned to studying philosophy. He spent the rest of his life as a scholar and writer mainly in his homeland.

Isaac dealt with both philosophical and theological questions. His command of Arabic helped him, which enabled him to acquire an excellent knowledge of Arabic philosophy first hand. He was strongly influenced by the Jewish Neoplatonic tradition (above all Solomon ibn Gabirol , also Isaak ben Salomon Israeli , Abraham bar Chijja , Abraham ben Meir ibn Ezra , Josef ben Jakob ibn Zaddiq and Moshe ibn Ezra ) and with regard to the political philosophy of the Muslim thinker al-Fārābī . He was also a good expert on Kabbalah , used Kabbalistic suggestions and at the same time dealt critically with the Kabbalists of his time. He did not consider himself a Kabbalist, but since his work was later mainly received by Kabbalists, he was counted among them. The classification as a Neoplatonist is more appropriate. He criticized positions of Aristotle from a Platonic point of view and also contradicted the doctrines of the Aristotelian Maimonides . This was resented by Jewish Aristotelians and Averroists . However, he also adopted important ideas and terms from Maimonides.

Isaac argued against the Aristotelian view of the eternity of the world, claiming that the existence of the world could only be explained with the assumption of a Creator. In the doctrine of creation he represented a Neoplatonic model, which he combined with ideas from the rabbinical tradition. He assumed a primordial matter that can exist without any connection with a form.

His first writing Sha'ar ha-Shamajim ("Heavenly Gate ") was created in 1238 and was also his main work. In addition, he wrote a systematic exposition of his cosmology ( Ẓurat ha-Olam "Form of the World") and other philosophical and theological works, including Tanach comments.

literature

• Angel Sáenz-Badillos, Judit Targarona Borrás: Yiṣḥaq ben Abraham ibn Laṭif. In: Diccionario de autores judios (Sefarad. Siglos X-XV). El Almendro, Córdoba 1988, ISBN 84-86077-69-9 ( Estudios de Cultura Hebrea Volume 10), p. 164
• Shoey Raz: Latif, Isaac b. Abraham ibn . In: Encyclopaedia Judaica , 2nd edition, Vol. 12, Detroit 2007, pp. 506–507 ( online )
• Maurice-Ruben Hayoun: Isaak ben Abraham ibn Latif . In: Andreas B. Kilcher u. a. (Ed.): Metzler Lexicon Jewish Philosopher , Stuttgart 2003, pp. 66–68