Gersonides, was born in southeastern France, into a region called Provence, in 1288 CE (Feldman, 3-4). It would appear, from Latin, Provençal, and Hebrew sources, that he was born in, or lived much of his life in, the village of Bagneols (Bagnols), which is now Bagnols sur Cèze. He was not well-traveled; in fact, he spent all of his days in the Provence area – although he would end his life in Avignon, not Bagneols – plying his trade, interacting with his community, and writing his Biblical commentaries, scientific treatises, and philosophical texts (4).
He died, at the age of 56, on April 20, 1344 (8). As far as is known, he left no children behind, and he may not have even married – one tradition does hold that he married one of his cousins, but here too there is no mention of children (4-5).
Background and Education
Just what Gersonides did for a living is not entirely clear. The majority of Gersonides’ biographers believe that he was a physician. According to Seymour Feldman, he was also active in money lending, and appears to have been hired out as an astrologer-astronomer from time to time as well (6-7). Alternatively, at least one biographer suggests that he was independently wealthy, and was thus able to dedicate all of his time to his studies (7).
Gersonides was knowledgeable in a variety of religious and secular fields, but just wherefrom this knowledge originated is subject to even more speculation than the question of his livelihood. Insofar as his religious learning is concerned, it would appear that his father and grandfather introduced him to, and possibly trained him in, the subject (5).
He was knowledgeable in fields beyond religion, however. Where he trained in secular learning is not at all clear, although he may have gotten this training informally through his interactions with others, or he may have been self-taught. Of his personal library, many of the books preserved were scientific works dealing with astronomy and astrology, mathematics, and medicine (Matalon, 240), all fields in which he excelled and is presumed to have worked.
Philosophy, Mathematics, and Medicine
As has been suggested, Gersonides was a scholar in several fields beyond philosophy, the field in which he is most famous. But in philosophy, he comments on Aristotle, Averroes, and Maimonides, and expresses opinions God, on God's omniscience, and on the immortality of the soul.
He was a noted Talmudist – of this fact even the detractors of his philosophical works admit (Feldman, 8-9) – and Biblical commentator, who wrote exegeses on the book of Job, the Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Daniel, Proverbs, and the Pentateuch, just to name a few of the most important (11-16).
He was also a skilled mathematician, writing several treatises on mathematics, including a pioneering work on mathematical induction and an influential section in book 5 of his The Wars of the Lord dealing with trigonometry (17-19). He wrote on the natural sciences too, and scholars credit several medical texts to him as well (24-27); nevertheless, in the study of science, it was in astronomy that he truly excelled.
Gersonides the Astronomer
Seymour Feldman states that Gersonides “made his most important and original scientific contributions” (21) in the field of astronomy, and informs us that he even, posthumously, had one of the craters on the moon named after him – the “Rabbi Levi.”
José Luis Mancha and Gad Freudenthal claim that Gersonides’ astronomical aim was not merely to study the celestial heavens above him, but to “discover the true construction and working of the universe.” (Freudenthal and Mancha, 36) To this effect, he “recorded the results of his innovative astronomical inquiries in the 136 chapters of his astronomical work,” (35) and even invented an
astronomical device, called the Jacob's staff, for measuring the angular distance between stars (Feldman, 21-22).
Pioneering the Scientific Method
In all of his endeavors, Gersonides was decidedly “scientific.” He lived and wrote by a principle of “what was verified by observation cannot be denied by any theoretical argument.” (Glasner, 14) Ruth Glasner argues that his use of this principle is significant because he “make[s] a point about how theory must conform to, and be based upon, observation.” (14)
Gersonides was a strong believer in reason – in humanity’s ability to know the truth. Gersonides illustrates and defends his philosophy and method in his introductory remarks at the beginning of The Wars of the Lord, concluding that “human happiness is achieved when a man knows reality as much as he can.” (Feldman, 96)
Sources
Feldman, Seymour. The Wars of the Lord. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1984.
Freudenthal, Gad and José Luis Mancha. “Levi ben Gershom’s Criticism of Ptolemy’s Astronomy.” Aleph: Historical Studies in Science and Judaism volume 5 (2005): 35-167.
Glasner, Ruth. “The Early Stages in the Evolution of Gersonides’ The Wars of the Lord.” The Jewish Quarterly Review July (1996): 1-46.
Husik, Isaac. A History of Mediaeval Jewish Philosophy. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1940.
Matalon, Guy. Gersonides & Narboni on Immortality and Intellection. New York: New York University dissertation, 2006.
Rudavsky, Tamar. “Gersonides.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, accessed 19 December 2008. <http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/gersonides/#4>.
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