Isaac ben Solomon Israeli, the first Jewish Neoplatonist, was one of the most distinguished Jewish physicians of the Middle Ages. He was so renowned for his medical competence, both in theory and in practice, that his works were widely circulated in manuscript, translated into Latin, and printed in the early years of the sixteenth century, as Omnia Opera Ysaac (Lyons, 1515). This printed edition and the manuscripts on which it was based contained some of Israeli's philosophic writings as well as his scientific treatises. As a result, his name became well-known, beyond his philosophic deserts; indeed, his fame among Christian scholars was second only to that of Moses Maimonides. Yet Maimonides held Israeli's philosophy in no great esteem, referring to him as "merely a physician."

Isaac Israeli was a native of Egypt. He left his native land to study...