Julius Guttmann, Philosophies of Judaism: The History of Jewish Philosophy from Biblical Times to Franz Rosenzweig, trans. by David W. Silverman (1964, reissued 1988; originally published in German, 1933), is the best general treatment of Jewish philosophy from the ancient to the modern period, ending with Franz Rosenzweig. Jacob B. Agus, Modern Philosophies of Judaism (1941, reissued 1970), the first critical work in English on the subject, is still highly insightful. Emil L. Fackenheim, Encounters Between Judaism and Modern Philosophy (1973, reissued 1994), presents insightful essays by an important philosopher and Jewish thinker. Lenn E. Goodman, God of Abraham (1996), is a well-argued revival of medieval Jewish rationalism. Hellenistic philosophy
Nahum N. Glatzer (ed.), The Essential Philo (1971), contains lengthy selections from the major works of Philo, with notes. Harry Austryn Wolfson, Philo: Foundations of Religious Philosophy in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (1947, reprinted 1968), a seminal though controversial work, portrays Alexandrian Judaism as a collateral branch of Palestinian Pharisaic Judaism and emphasizes Philo’s influence upon later philosophy. Medieval philosophy
Colette Sirat, A History of Jewish Philosophy in the Middle Ages (1985, reissued 1990), is the best introduction to the subject. Jewish kalām
Saʿadia Ben Joseph, The Book of Beliefs and Opinions, trans. by Samuel Rosenblatt (1948; originally published in Arabic and Hebrew, 1880), his important philosophical work, deals with major topics in Jewish theology, such as faith and reason, creation, God, and reward and punishment. Leon Nemoy (ed. and trans.), A Karaite Anthology: Excerpts from the Early Literature (1952, reissued 1987), an excellent collection of the more-accessible Karaite materials, covers a wide range of themes, writers, and periods. Harry Austryn Wolfson, The Philosophy of the Kalam (1976), is a collection of essays by a master of medieval Jewish philosophy. Jewish Neoplatonism
A. Altmann and S.M. Stern (eds. and trans.), Isaac Israeli: A Neoplatonic Philosopher of the Early Tenth Century, His Works Translated with Comments and an Outline of His Philosophy (1958), contains complete translations of three of Israeli’s works and excerpts from another, together with a comprehensive essay on his philosophy. Lenn E. Goodman (ed.), Neoplatonism and Jewish Thought (1992), contains a variety of important essays on all aspects of this topic. Judah ha-Levi and other early philosophers
The Kuzari, trans. from Arabic by Hartwig Hirschfeld (1946, reissued 1971), is a complete English translation of the text and notes, with an introductory essay by Henry Slonimsky. Bahya Ibn Paquda, The Duties of the Heart, trans. by Edward Collins (1904), one of the more widely read medieval classics of Jewish philosophy, concentrates on ethics and personal piety. Abraham bar Hayya (Abraham bar Hiyya Savasorda), The Meditation of the Sad Soul, trans. by Geoffrey Wigoder (1968; originally published in Hebrew, 1860), one of the more-accessible philosophical works of this important medieval astronomer and mathematician, is devoted primarily to ethical and religious themes. Yochanan Silman, Philosopher and Prophet: Judah Halevi, the Kuzari, and the Evolution of His Thought, trans. by Lenn J. Schramm (1995; originally published in Hebrew, 1985), is a major study of the development of ha-Levi’s theology. Maimonides
The Guide for the Perplexed, trans. with an introductory essay by Shlomo Pines (1963, reprinted 1979), is an accurate and clear translation with a valuable prefatory essay by Leo Strauss. A Maimonides Reader, ed. with introduction and notes by Isadore Twersky (1972), is a fine anthology containing important material from Maimonides’ Mishne Torah and other legal writings, as well as from his shorter philosophical-theological essays and the Guide. David Hartman, Maimonides: Torah and Philosophic Quest (1976, reissued 1986), is a study of Maimonides as an integrated thinker. Averroists
Harry Austryn Wolfson (ed. and trans.), Crescas’ Critique of Aristotle: Problems of Aristotle’s Physics in Jewish and Arabic Philosophy (1929, reissued 1971), the most important study of medieval Jewish and Arabic philosophy so far written, contains a translation and critical Hebrew text of part 1 of the treatise, with a valuable introductory essay and comprehensive and detailed notes. Joseph Albo, Book of Principles, trans. and ed. by Isaac Husik, 4 vol. (1929, reissued 1946; originally published in Hebrew, 1485), is a fine translation of Albo’s treatise in Jewish dogmatics, with helpful notes. Modern Jewish philosophy
Baruch Spinoza, Theologico-Political Treatise, vol. 1 of The Works of Spinoza, trans. by R.H.M. Elwes (1883, reprinted 1951), is the philosopher’s critique of the Bible and the Jewish religion. Leo Strauss, Spinoza’s Critique of Religion, trans. by E.M. Sinclair (1965, reissued 1997; originally published in German, 1930), is an excellent philosophical study of Spinoza’s Treatise and its relation to Maimonides, Uriel Acosta, and other Sephardic heterodox thinkers. Steven Nadler, Spinoza (1999), is an important biography of the founder of modern Jewish philosophy. German philosophers
Moses Mendelssohn, Jerusalem and Other Jewish Writings, trans. and ed. by Alfred Jospe (1969), contains an informative and acute introduction by the editor. Hermann Cohen, Religion of Reason Out of the Sources of Judaism, trans. by Simon Kaplan (1972, reissued 1995; originally published in German, 1919), is the author’s major work dealing with his philosophy of Judaism. Franz Rosenzweig, The Star of Redemption, trans. by William W. Hallo (1971, reissued 1985; originally published in German, 1921), the author’s early but impressive statement of his “re-conversion” to Judaism, has been influential in contemporary Jewish and non-Jewish theology. Nahum N. Glatzer, Franz Rosenzweig: His Life and Thought, 3rd ed. (1998), is an excellent anthology of Rosenzweig’s writings, containing many letters that reveal important episodes in Rosenzweig’s career. Interpretive studies include Arthur A. Cohen, The Tremendum: A Theological Interpretation of the Holocaust (1981, reissued 1993). Emmanuel Lévinas, Difficult Freedom: Essays on Judaism, trans. by Seán Hand (1990; originally published in French, 1963), contains reflections by a French Jewish philosopher very much in the tradition of German Jewish philosophy. Shlomo Pines Jewish mysticism
Gershom Scholem, Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism, 3rd rev. ed. (1954, reissued 1995), is the standard survey of the subject, with a chapter-by-chapter bibliography. Translations of important mystical texts include Harry Sperling (trans.) and Maurice Simon (trans.), The Zohar, 2nd ed., 5 vol. (1984); Moses Cordovero, The Palm Tree of Deborah, trans. by Louis Jacobs, 3rd ed. (1981; originally published in Hebrew, 1623); R.J. Zwi Werblowsky, Joseph Karo: Lawyer and Mystic, 2nd ed. (1977); and L.I. Newman (compiler and trans.), The Hasidic Anthology: Tales and Teachings of the Hasidim (1934, reissued 1987).