Andalus and Sefarad: on philosophy and its history in Islamic Spain

Abstract

judge in striking ways, Hasidic ideas are sometimes off the chart—for example, denying that sin is real, or asserting that God encourages it. What is more, a thinkable solution to the problem of evil turns out to be the existence of a multiverse, and the fate of the individual may be explained through reincarnation; while Gellman also proposes panpsychism, the theory that mind is central to the universe, a doctrine traceable back to Spinoza but especially salient in the work of A. N. Whitehead. I suspect that many readers will feel that some of this is a bridge too far. The attractive thing about this book is its intellectual humility: the author suggests, he does not insist. For anyone interested in Jewish ideas about God, it will prove a stimulating if not always convincing read. Gellman himself is not convinced by all his arguments but puts them forward humbly and eirenically for consideration.