This chapter briefly explores the question of whether or not there is a Jewish philosophy. It first attempts to define what is meant by the phrase specifically and reviews extant scholarship on the subject. The chapter reveals a variety of possibilities as to the nature of the subject. At the one extreme there is David Neumark with his History of Philosophy among the Jews, then Salomon Munk and the generality of students with their histories of Jewish philosophy. The intermediate position is occupied by the histories of the Jewish philosophy of religion. After exploring this wealth of literature in some detail, the chapter goes on to explore the role of Judaism within the context of this question and presents reasons as to why the question of a Jewish philosophy is important in the first place.
