Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- 1 Texts and Contexts
- II Logic and Language
- III Natural Philosophy
- 9 Matter, Form, and the Corporeal World
- 10 Cosmology: The Heavenly Bodies
- 11 Miracles
- 12 Time, Space, and Infinity
- 13 Exhalations and Other Meteorological Themes
- IV Epistemology and Psychology
- V Metaphysics and Philosophical Theology
- VI Practical Philosophy
- Biobibliographical Appendix
- Bibliography
- Index
- References
13 - Exhalations and Other Meteorological Themes
from III - Natural Philosophy
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 May 2009
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- 1 Texts and Contexts
- II Logic and Language
- III Natural Philosophy
- 9 Matter, Form, and the Corporeal World
- 10 Cosmology: The Heavenly Bodies
- 11 Miracles
- 12 Time, Space, and Infinity
- 13 Exhalations and Other Meteorological Themes
- IV Epistemology and Psychology
- V Metaphysics and Philosophical Theology
- VI Practical Philosophy
- Biobibliographical Appendix
- Bibliography
- Index
- References
Summary
INTRODUCTION
At first sight it might seem surprising to find a chapter on meteorology in a volume devoted to medieval Jewish philosophy. Meteorology, one of the branches of Aristotle’s natural philosophy, is certainly not the first subject that comes to mind when one thinks of medieval Jewish philosophy. Indeed, medieval Jewish scholars were far more occupied with topics deriving from other fields of natural philosophy, such as motion or the soul, than the causes of rain and wind. Nonetheless, there are meteorological notions that raised considerable interest among medieval Jewish thinkers. In the following I shall examine these issues and describe the various contexts in which medieval Jewish savants studied meteorology.
ARISTOTLE’S METEOROLOGY
Aristotle’s Meteorology was, either directly or indirectly, the principle source for meteorological discussions in medieval Jewish philosophy and science. In his proœmium to this treatise Aristotle describes the place of meteorology within the wider framework of his enquiry into the natural world, stating that it follows his investigations of the first causes of nature and natural motion (Physics), the movements of the stars in the heavens (On the Heaven), and the mutual transformations of the elements (On Generation and Corruption). The proœmium concludes with his announcement of his investigations of animals and plants.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge History of Jewish PhilosophyFrom Antiquity through the Seventeenth Century, pp. 434 - 450Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2008
References
(2004). Livyat Ḥen: Account of Creation by R. Levi ben Avraham. (ed.). Jerusalem: World Union of Jewish Studies. [Hebrew]Google Scholar
(1972), “Maimonidean Controversy,” in Encyclopedia Judaica. Jerusalem: Keter Publishing House, vol. 11:.Google Scholar
(1997). “Judaism and General Culture in Medieval and Early Modern Times,” in (ed.), Judaism’s Encounter with Other Cultures. Rejection or Integration?Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson.Google Scholar
and (2000). Scientific Weather Forecasting in the Middle Ages. The Writings of al-Kindī. Studies, Editions, and Translations of the Arabic, Hebrew and Latin Texts. London: Kegan Paul International.Google Scholar
(2001). “The Reception of Aristotle’s Meteorology in Hebrew Scientific Writings of the Thirteenth Century,” Aleph. 1:.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(2004). “An unexpected source of Meir Aldabi’s Shevilei Emunah,” Zutot: Perspectives on Jewish Culture..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(1993a). “Les sciences dans les communautés juives médiévales de Provence: Leur appropriation, leur rôle,” Revue des études juives. 152:.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(2004). “La détermination partielle biologique et climatologique, de la félicité humaine: Maïmonide versus Al-Fārābī à propos des influences célestes,” in and (eds.), Maïmonide. Philosophe et savant (1138–1204). Louvain: Peeters.Google Scholar
(1887). Das Buch al-Chazari des Abu⼹l-Hasan Jehuda Halevi. (ed.). Leipzig: Otto Schulze. [Arabic and Hebrew text]Google Scholar
(1947). Kuzari: The Book of Proof and Argument. (trans.). Oxford: East and West Library.Google Scholar
(2003). “Arabic into Hebrew: The Hebrew Translation Movement and the Influence of Averroes upon Medieval Jewish Thought,” in Frank and Leaman 2003.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(ed.) (2000a). The Medieval Hebrew Encyclopedias of Science and Philosophy. Dordrecht/Boston/London: Kluwer Academic Publisher.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(1986). The Exalted Faith. (Hebrew text. ed.) and (Engl. tr. with commentary). Rutherford, Madison, et al.: Farleigh Dickinson University Press, and London/Toronto: Associated University Presses.Google Scholar
(2002). and (eds.), Le commentaire sur le Livre de la création de Dunas ben Tamim de Kairouan (Xe siècle). Nouvelle edition, revue et augmentée. Paris-Louvain: Peeters.Google Scholar
(1995). ⼹Otot ha-shamayim: Samuel Ibn Tibbon’s Hebrew version of Aristotle’s Meteorology. (ed.). Leiden: E.J. Brill.Google Scholar
(2003). Yosef ben Yaaqov Ibn Tzaddiq, The microcosm of Joseph Ibn Saddiq. (ed.) and (trans., intro. and notes). Madison, N.J: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press.Google Scholar
(1987). Maimonides’ Interpretation of the Story of Creation. Jerusalem: R. Mas Publ. [Hebrew]Google Scholar
(2006). “Maimonides’ Exoteric and Esoteric Biblical Interpretations,” in (ed.), Study and Knowledge in Jewish Thought. Beer Sheva: Ben Gurion University of the Negev Press.Google Scholar
(1999). Aristotle’s Meteorology and its Reception in the Arab World. With an Edition and Translation of Ibn Suwār’s Treatise on Meteorological Phenomena and Ibn Bājja’s Commentary on the Meteorology. Leiden: E.J. Brill.Google Scholar
(ed.) (2004). Isaac Ibn Sahula. Meshal ha-Qadmoni, Fables from the Distant Past. Oxford: The Littman Library of Civilization. 2 vols.Google Scholar
(1963). The Guide of the Perplexed. 2 vols., (trans.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
(1990b). “The Secrets of the Guide of the Perplexed: Between the Thirteenth and the Twentieth Centuries,” in (ed.), Studies in Maimonides. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
(1990c). “Aristotle’s Meteorology and the Maimonidean Modes of Interpreting the Account of Creation,” Shlomo Pines Jubilee Volume on the Occasion of his Eightiest Birthday, Part II (Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Thought 9.. [Hebrew] (An English translation of this article is forthcoming in Aleph).Google Scholar
(2000). “Gershom b. Solomon’s Sha⼸ar ha-Shamayim: Its Sources and Use of Sources,” in S. Harvey 2000a.Google Scholar
(2005). “The Ibn Tibbon Family: A Dynasty of Translators in Medieval Provence,” in (ed.), Be⼹erot Yitzhak: Studies in Memory of Isadore Twersky. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
(2007). Samuel Ibn Tibbon’s Commentary on Ecclesiastes, The Book of the Soul of Man. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.Google Scholar
(1994a). “Towards the Study of the Sources of R. Meir Aldabi’s Shevilei ha-Emunah,” Sinai. 114:. [Hebrew]Google Scholar
(1997b). “⼹Otot ha-shamayim. Aspaqlaryah la-ezoteriqa ha-yehudit biyemei ha-beinayyim,” Da⼸at. 38:.Google Scholar
(1960). Aristotle’s System of the Physical World. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
(1893). Die hebraeischen Übersetzungen des Mittelalters und die Juden als Dolmetscher. 2 vols. Berlin: Im Kommissionsverlag des Bibliographischen Bureaus.Google Scholar
(1996). La filosofia antica nel Medioevo ebraico: le traduzioni ebraiche medievali dei testi filosofici antichi. Brescia: Paideia.Google Scholar