Towards a Spinozan reading of medieval tolerance: Maimonides, Crescas, Gersonides and the Kabbalists
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This article proposes a reconstruction of tolerance in Spinoza’s thought based on its medieval sources, notably Maimonides, Crescas, and Gersonides. It aims to demonstrate that tolerance is not a modern invention, but rather a transformation of medieval problems related to law (the modern conception of political obedience), prophecy (the modern conception of political critique), and causality (the modern conception of natural and historical phenomena). By articulating a theory of affections with a critique of superstition and democracy, Spinoza reformulates tolerance as an effect of an ontology of immanence.
Source: Veritas (Porto Alegre)
Author: Nythamar Fernandes de Oliveira
Language: English
Subfield: Philosophy
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7203490917