Samuel Ibn Tibbon’s use of the Principle of Plenitude – a Case Study in Radical Aristotelianism

What is it about?

This article examine a theory of repeating cyclical creation and destruction of the world in medieval Jewish Philosophy. It argues that the theory is a result of unusual commitments of the author, although these commitments are taken from Aristotelian natural philosophy, they are not standard beliefs for a medieval Jewish philosopher. I give historical motivation for the author to submit to such theory: I claim that the author tried to position himself as a scientist rather than a theologian, in a way he believed to be dictated by the great Jewish philosopher Maimonides.

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