Bøker av Oliver Leaman

Ritual and practice are some of the most defining features of religion, linked with its central beliefs. Discussing the wide range of Jewish ritual and practice, this volume provides a contemporary guide to this significant aspect of religious life and experience. Drawing on a wide range of disciplines, this volume describes not only what takes place, but the reasons behind this and the implications both the theory and practice have for our understanding of Judaism. Organized in terms of texts, periods, practices, languages and relationships with the other, the book includes accounts of prayer, food, history, synagogues and the various legal and ideological debates that exist within Judaism with the focus on how they influence practice. Coming at a time of renewed interest in the role of the body in religion, this book aims to bring the theoretical and scriptural issues which arise in this area of Jewish life and culture up to date.This volume is aimed at students and researchers working in Jewish studies specifically, and religious studies in general. Designed to be helpful to those on courses in relevant areas, especially in the United States, this book includes substantial bibliographical material.

Moses Maimonides (1135-1204) is recognized both as a leading figure in Jewish thought and as one of the most radical philosophers of the Islamic world. This work provides a general introduction to his philosophy, exploring his arguments, and examining their implications and validity.

The reader is invited to view Islamic art as no more and no less than ordinary art, neither better nor worse than anything else that counts as art. It follows that there are no special techniques required in Islamic aesthetics as compared with any other form of aesthetics.

Examining the philosophy of Averroes, this work discusses his metaphysics. Particular emphasis is on the issues which were controversial in his time, such as the apparent denial of the immortality of the individual soul, the necessity of causality, and the distinction between essence and existence.

This volume aims to provides a comprehensive survey of all the major themes encountered in the religious and philosophical traditions of Asia and the Islamic world, from Buddhism to Zoroastrianism.

Through key readings from primary and secondary sources, this book guides the reader through the principle features of the remarkable range of eastern thought - including Buddhist, Confucian, Hindu, Islamic, Shinto and Zoroastrian.