Shem Tov ibn Falaquera

Schem Tov ben Joseph ibn Falaquera (* 1225 ; † around 1295), also written Palquera ( Hebrew שם טוב בן יוסף אבן פלקירה) was a (presumably) Spanish philosopher and poet of Jewish descent.

Life

Falaquera was trained in Arabic and Greek philosophy. He worked on the continuation of philosophy and sciences on the one hand, and of Jewish thought and understanding of Scripture on the other, which led him to popularize philosophy and, in part, to its criticism. In the Maimonides dispute he supported Maimonides and wrote an open letter in defense of his leader of the undecided (see below).

Works

• Iggeret Hanhagat ha-Guf we ha-Nefesch , is about the control of body and mind.
• Ẓeri ha-Jagon , is about resignation and misfortune. Edition Cremona 1550.
• Iggeret ha-Wikkuaḥ , a dialogue between an Orthodox Jew and a philosopher on the harmony of philosophy and religion, who tries to show that the Bible and Talmud correspond exactly to philosophy. Edition Prague 1810. Translated into Latin . Edition Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, MS. Latin, No. 6691A. Edition Vienna 1875 (digital copies: 1. (PDF) 2. )
• Reschit Ḥokhma , deals with moral duties and reproduces the "ethical letters" of Aristotle , as well as the sciences and the necessity of studying philosophy. Schem-Ṭov deals particularly with the thinking of Aristotle and Plato . Translated into Latin. Edition Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, MS. Latin, No. 6691A.
• Sefer ha-Ma'alot , deals with the various degrees of human perfection. Published by L. Venetianer in 1891. (Digital copies: 1. (PDF) 2. )
• Ha-Mebaḳḳesh , deals with human knowledge in partly rhymed dialogue form. A revision by Reschit Ḥokhma . First printed in Krakow 1646. New edition by H. Levine, The Book of the Seeker (Sefer ha-Mebaqqesh) by Shem Tob ben Joseph Ibn Falaquera , New York 1976.
• Sefer ha-Nefesch , a psychological treatise in the school of the Arab Aristotelians (with their Neoplatonic influence), especially by Avicenna . Brody 1835 edition ( digitized ); Warsaw 1924 ( digitized version (PDF)).
• More ha-More , a commentary on the philosophical parts of the More Nevukhim (leader of the lost or the undecided or the disoriented) of Maimonides , with an appendix that corrects the Hebrew translation of the More by Samuel ibn Tibbon . Edition Pressburg 1837. (Digitized: 1. , 2. ) New edition and commentary by Yair Schiffman (Sources for the Study of Jewish Culture), Jerusalem 2002. ISBN 965-90148-5-6
• Letter in defense of More Nevukhim against attacks by various v. a. French rabbi; published in the Minḥat Ḳena'ot . Edition Pressburg 1838.
• Excerpts from Ibn Gabirol's Meḳor Ḥayyim , edited by Solomon Munk in his Mélanges de Philosophie Juive et Arabe , Paris 1859.
• De'ot ha-Philosophim , contains the physics and metaphysics of Aristotle according to the interpretations of Averroes , according to M. Steinschneider, Cat. Hebrew MSS. Leyden, No. 20th
• Iggeret ha-Musar , a compilation of ethical sentences (cf. Orient, Lit. 1879, p. 79).
• Megillat ha-Zikkaron , a historiographical work that has not survived and is quoted in Mebaḳḳesh .
• Iggeret ha-Ḥalom , a treatise on dreams, mentioned in More ha-More , iii., Ch. 19, p. 131.

literature

• Salomon Munk : Mélanges de Philosophie Juive et Arabe . Pp. 494-496
• Ernest Renan : Averroès et l'Averroïsme . Pp. 183, 187
• David Kaufmann : Studies on Solomon ibn Gabirol . 1899, pp. 1-3
• Moritz Steinschneider : Catalogus Librorum Hebræorum in Bibliotheca Bodleiana . cols. 2537-2548
• Moritz Steinschneider : Hebrew translations . Pp. 8, 18, 37, 356, 380, 422
• Moritz Güdemann : The Jewish education system . i. 155-157
• Heinrich Graetz : History of the Jews . vii. 219 et seq.
• Mattityahu Strashun: Pirḥe Ẓafon . i. 46
• L. Venetians: Semtob ibn Fala-Kéra . In: Magyar Zsido Szemle , 1890, viii. 74-82, 144-155
• Angel Sáenz-Badillos; Judit Targarona Borrás: Diccionario de autores judios (Sefarad. Siglos X-XV). Estudios de Cultura Hebrea 10. Córdoba 1988, pp. 101-103.

Web links

• Steve Harvey:  Entry in Edward N. Zalta (Ed.): Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy . [there also further links to editions of works available online!]
• Richard Gottheil, Isaac Broydé:  FALAQUERA (PALQUERA), SHEM-ṬOB BEN JOSEPH. In: Isidore Singer (Ed.): Jewish Encyclopedia . Funk and Wagnalls, New York 1901-1906.
• Digitized copies of Leopold Zunz's copies