DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY

He specializes in Jewish Philosophy, Ancient and Medieval Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion. His work uses classic texts in the history of philosophy to shed light on problems of perennial interest. His latest book is Maimonides on the Origin of the World (Cambridge UP, 2005). Previous books include Autonomy in Jewish Philosophy (Cambridge UP, 2001),Searching for a Distant God: The Legacy of Maimonides (Oxford UP, 2000), Jewish Philosophy in a Secular Age (SUNY Press) and Maimonides: A Guide for Today's Perplexed (Behrman House). Among his published articles are: “Is the Apology of Socrates a Parody?” “Socratic Philosophy and the Dialogue Form,” “Vlastos on Elenchus and Mathematics,” “Maimonides’ Appropriation of Aristotle’s Ethics,” and  “From Maimonides to Spinoza.”  He has won several teaching awards at Northwestern and has edited the Cambridge Companion to Maimonides.

Books

• The Cambridge Companion to Maimonides (Cambridge University Press, 2005).
• Maimonides on the Origin of the World (Cambridge University Press, 2005).
• Autonomy in Jewish Philosophy (Cambridge University Press, 2001).
• Searching for a Distant God: The Legacy of Maimonides (Oxford University Press, 2000).
• Jewish Philosophy in a Secular Age (SUNY Press, 1990).
• Maimonides: A Guide for Today's Perplexed (Behrman House).

Selected Articles

• "Platonism, Mysticism, and Madness," The Monist 59 (1976): 576-86.
• "The Comedy of the Gods in the Iliad," Philosophy and Literature 1 (1977): 395-406.
• "Is the Apology of Socrates a Parody?" Philosophy and Literature 6 (1982): 94-105.
• "Socratic Philosophy and the Dialogue Form," Philosophy and Literature 8 (1984):181-94.
• "Job and the Problem of Evil," Philosophy and Literature 11 (1987): 226-41. Reprinted in:The Jewish Philosophy Reader, edited by Frank, Leaman, and Manekin (London and New York, Routledge, 2000), pp. 66-73.
• "What Philosophy Can and Cannot Say about Evil," in Rosenberg and Myers, ed.:Echoes from the Holocaust: Philosophical Reflections on a Dark Age (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1988), pp. 91-104. Reprinted in A Holocaust Reader, edited by Michael Morgan (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000).
• "Coming to Terms with Failure: A Philosophical Dilemma," in Berel Lang, ed. Writing and the Holocaust (New York: Holmes and Meier, 1988), pp. 110-21. Reprinted in A Holocaust Reader, edited by Michael Morgan (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000).
• "Poverty and Sincerity in the Apology," Philosophy and Literature 16 (1992): 128-33.
• "Vlastos on Elenchus and Mathematics," Ancient Philosophy 13 (1993): 37-53.