IBN FALAQUERA

born c. 1225 died c. 1295 in full Shemtob Ben Joseph Ibn Falaquera, Falaquera also spelled Palquera Spanish-born Jewish philosopher and translator who propagated a reconciliation between Jewish Orthodoxy and philosophy and defended Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed against the attacks of the traditionalists. His numerous works include Dialogue Between a Philosopher and a Man of Piety; an ethical treatise known as The Balm of Sorrow; an introduction to the study of the sciences entitled Reshit hokhma (The Beginning of Wisdom), which reproduces al-Farabi's Aims of the Philosophy of Plato and Aristotle and which was translated into Latin at the end of the 15th century; Sefer ha-ma'alot (Book of Degrees), which advocates the Neoplatonic ideal of the contemplative life; a commentary on Maimonides' Guide under the title More ha-more (Guide of the Guide); and an abstract of Ibn Gabirol's influential Fons vitae in Hebrew.