Some Remarks on Medieval Jewish Rationalism's Extreme Asceticism

Abstract

This article traces the development of asceticism in medieval Jewish rationalism. First, it exposes the roots of asceticism in Muslim adab literature. Next, it analyses Maimonides' hierarchy, suggesting sexual ascetics as the basic component on which other ways are built. This development relied on passages from Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics and De Anima. Finally, the article examines the hermeneutical application of medieval rational asceticism by analyzing the work of Shem Tov ibn Mayor, a late fourteenth-century philosopher who wrote a supercommentary on Abraham Ibn Ezra.