Malachi, Ariel
Junior Fellow: August 2017, August 2018, and August 2019
Research Project: Reason and Revelation: Sceptical Aspects in Judah Halevi's Kuzari
Ariel Malachi's project deals with Aristotelian logic and epistemology, their sceptical use by religious thinkers to criticise philosophy, and their impact on the thinker's religious standpoints. At this stage, the study focuses on Judah Halevi's sceptical criticism of Aristotelian philosophy and its function within his defence of Judaism as presented in his Book of The Kuzari. At the heart of the research is the suggestion that for Halevi, the same logical, epistemological, and sceptical philosophy-criticising approach brings one to rule rationally in favour of Jewish revelation. This innovative suggestion, based on careful and critical reading of the original Judeo-Arabic text, attempts to reconstruct Halevi's attitude towards philosophy and rationalism, as well as its impact on the exegesis of revelation from a new perspective. Ariel Malachi's general plans are to expand his research and to explore the functions of logic and epistemology in the writings of other medieval Jewish thinkers, such as Abraham Ibn-Daud and Maimonides.
Ariel Malachi is a PhD candidate in the Department of Jewish Philosophy at Bar-Ilan University in Israel. He is also a jurist, holding a Bachelor of Laws degree (LLB.) from Bar-Ilan University. He is a member of the Israel Bar Association and is licensed to practice as a lawyer.