De Gruyter Moses ibn Tibbons Kommentar zum Hohelied und sein poetologisch-philosophisches Programm

The commentary that Moses ibn Tibbon (approx. 1195 - 1275) wrote on the Song of Solomon serves in this book as an example of the interlacing between Judaic-Arabic philosophy and Judaism’s traditional interpretation of hymns of praise. The authentic text is first established through philological manuscript analysis, a step that allows the true contour of Moses ibn Tibbon’s philosophy to emerge. He sought to render an exoteric materialist reinterpretation of the esoteric-metaphysical philosophy of Maimonides. This attempt not only aimed at a democratization of knowledge in medieval Jewish society but also led Moses ibn Tibbon to a philosophy of language that based the cognitive act on the aesthetic experience of the reader.