Medieval philosophy and the classical tradition in Islam, Judaism, and Christianity /

Contributor Jonathan Jacobs writes in this volume that "Maimonides and Aquinas owe a great deal to Aristotle," but that these thinkers really hold "three different conceptions of objectivity." Perhaps more than a monograph ever could, these essays illustrate strikingly, and in multiple ways, the disparate conceptions yet shared discourses of ancient Greeks and medieval Christian, Jewish, and Muslim thinkers--including those critical of philosophy, like Judah Ha-Levi and al-Ghazali. Rather than attempting comprehensive analysis of a single issue, individual essays focus on more limited but more illuminating pieces of the puzzle. A point raised by a neo-Platonist Greek or early Muslim in one chapter appears to respond to issues raised by a later philosopher elsewhere--a delightful proof of what the editor calls the "orbit of continuities and discontinuities." Inglis (Univ. of Dayton) argues that these traditions must be seen as more than simply stages on the trip from the ancient Greek to the Latin tradition; detailed attention to the richness of each and to cross-pollination is essential to an understanding of any of these traditions. Readers of this book are likely to agree. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty. S. Ward University of Wyoming