THE WISE AND THE DAMNED: INTELLECT AND ETERNAL LIFE IN IMMANUEL OF ROME’S TOPHET AND EDEN

This paper presents a philosophical reading of Immanuel of Rome’s Tophet and Eden and considers its place within the history of Jewish philosophy and Hebrew literature. I argue that Tophet and Eden promotes an intellectualist doctrine of reward and punishment, pointing out that Immanuel’s rationalist position is more radical than generally thought. I then contextualize Tophet and Eden within the larger fields of Jewish philosophy and Hebrew literature, challenging common assumptions about the attitude towards philosophy in 14^th century Italy. Tracing debates about philosophy among Immanuel’s predecessors and contemporaries, I suggest that the espousal of philosophical values in Tophet and Eden constitutes an extreme instance of the incorporation of rationalist philosophy into the realm of medieval Hebrew belles-lettres. Viewed in its context, Tophet and Eden emerges as a uniquely radical work of Hebrew literature.