began to move along its own lines (see Figure 8.4). At first the Rabbanites
alone were active in Spain. The Jewish philosophers then split. There appeared
more extreme universalistic positions, Neoplatonist and others, which pushed
toward a religion of all intellectuals and cut loose from particularistic roots;
and in reaction there were explicit defenses of Jewish tradition and a denial of
rationalistic philosophy. The first wave of these Jewish philosophers in Spain
appeared in the same generation—around 1035–1065—as the first memorable
FIGURE 8.4. ISLAMIC AND JEWISH PHILOSOPHERS
IN SPAIN, 900–1065Tensions of Ideas: Islam, Judaism, Christendom^ •^435