Shlomo Pines: The Jewish Philosopher Who Presupposed Nothing

To English-language readers, the scholar Shlomo Pines (1908-1990) is undoubtedly best known for his superb English translation of Moses Maimonides’ Guide of the Perplexed (1963). Some may also be aware of his uncanny fluency in dozens of ancient and modern languages and his extraordinary familiarity with the history of philosophy, science, and religion. Still others may have heard about his reputation as an absent-minded professor who would shuffle into his classroom at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem clutching a crumpled newspaper, proceed to lecture brilliantly without notes in a gentle monotone while staring at the floor or the ceiling, and, if asked a question, smile softly, turn around, scribble two or three sentences on the blackboard in Greek, Arabic, or Latin, and, forgetting occasionally to turn around, resume his lecture while addressing the blackboard.

At the Hebrew University, known in the mid-20th century as the home of such leading intellectual lights as Yitsḥak Baer, Martin Buber, Leah Goldberg, Yeshayahu Leibowitz, Jacob Katz, and Gershom Scholem, Pines was legendary not only for his prodigious knowledge of everything and his enormous contribution to the study of Jewish philosophy but also for his quiet humility and wholehearted dedication to his students, to whom he was always available for conversation and advice.

Who was this remarkable figure, and wherein lay his distinctive approach to Judaism, to philosophy, and to Jewish philosophy? Revisiting his life and career today is an especially valuable exercise, not least because his rigorously objective approach to scholarship itself is so refreshingly different from the identity politics so regnant on university campuses today.