CANTOR, THE KABBALIST SEFYROTIC SYSTEM, AND SPINOZISM
CANTOR, THE KABBALIST SEFYROTIC SYSTEM, AND SPINOZISM

Summary/Abstract: This article explores the influence of Kabbalah on the philosophical systems of Spinoza, Leibniz, Bruno, and Cantor, with a focus on some structural and conceptual parallels. Scholars have noted that Spinoza’s Ethics exhibits a framework akin to the Kabbalistic sefyrotic system. Their studies highlight some correspondences between Kabbalistic notions—such as sefirot (divine emanations), attributes, and parçuf(face)—and Spinozist concepts like attributes, modes, and state powers. The article discusses how Cantor, through his use of the symbol aleph ( א (and his conception of the absolute infinite, reflects a Kabbalistic worldview. Then it will analyze the Spinozis tinterpretation that Adolphe Jellinek proposed of the kabbalist theory of R. Azriel of Gerona. I will then examine the abstract status of numbers in Jewish commentators such as R. Ibn Ezra and the Gaon of Wilna, who posited the equivalence between the notions of number and sefyrah. Finally, I will analyze the post-Cantorian theory of naming, showing that it agrees, on the one hand, with the negative theology of Maimonides, and on the other hand, with the semantics of Saul Kripke.

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