2015

Academy of the Jewish Museum, Berlin: discussion of Teaching Plato in Palestine with Karim Sadek, June 23, 2015 (invited).

“Themistius’ Paraphrase of Metaphysics 12: Text, Ideas, Reception,” Oxford University, June 2014 (invited).

PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature: presentation of Teaching Plato in Palestine. New York City, May 9, 2015 (invited).

“Metaphysics, Skepticism, and Sufism in al-Ghazâlî, Maimonides, and Abraham ben Maimonides,” Yale University, February 5, 2015.

2014

“Did the son rebel against the father? Abraham ben Maimonides and the Sefardi philosophical legacy in the East,” Dept. of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University, February 2014.

2013

Deus sive Natura from Themistius to Spinoza”, Max-Planck-Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Berlin, May 2013.

“Geschichte der Philosophie als Sokratische Übung,” Dept. of Philosophy, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, April 11, 2013.

“Teaching Plato in Palestine,” European College of Liberal Arts, Berlin, March 6, 2013.

2012

“Medieval Philosophy and Sustainability,” Shaar Shalom Inaugural Public Lecture, Dalhousie University, September 20, 2012.

[Hebrew] “Is there a critique of religion in the TTP” Conference in honor of Rachel Elior, Zeev Harvey, and Aviezer Ravitzky, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, June 5-6, 2012.

2011

“Is there a critique of religion in the TTP?” Midwest Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, University of Madison-Wisconsin, October 21-23, 2011.

[Hebrew] “Philo of Alexandria, Hasdai Crescas, and Spinoza on God’s Body and Causality,” International Conference on Hasdai Crescas, Merkaz Zalman Shazar, January 11, 2011.

2010

Les religions philosophiques de Platon aux Lumières: raison, religion, autonomie. Three conferences at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris, December 2010: (1) “Sharīʿa et Torah, servantes de la philosophie : l’interprétation de l’islam et du judaïsme comme religions philosophiques au moyen âge”; (2) “Est-ce que le Traité theologico-politque serait interdit dans un état Spinoziste?”; (3) “Assimilation à Dieu par la perfection de la raison: le concept d’une religion philosophique” (in collaboration with the Centre d’Histoire des Sciences et des Philosophies Arabes et Médiévales).

“God, Natural Science and the Good Life in Spinoza and in Medieval Islamic and Jewish Aristotelianism,” International conference on The Notion of Scientific Modernity: Non-Eurocentric Perspectives, ETH Zürich, November, 25-26, 2010.

“Religiões Filosóficas de Platão ao Iluminisimo: Razão, Religião e Autonomia,” October 26-27, 2010, Departamento de Filosofia, Universidade de Campinas [A two-day seminar devoted to my project on philosophical religions].

“Diversidade Cultural, Debate Filosófico e Autonomia,” Instituto Anísio Teixeira (Salvador, Brazil), September 15, 2010.

“God, Law, and Autonomy in Spinoza,” Colloquium in Early Modern Philosophy, Princeton University, May 9, 2010.

“Legislating Truth: Maimonides, the Almohads, and the 13th Century Jewish Enlightenment,” Workshop on “Agents and Agency in Translation, Transmission, and Transformation in Medieval Cultures,” McGill University, April 23-25, 2010.

Respondent at Colloquium “The Question of Unity in Moses Mendelssohn’s Thought,” Princeton University, April 18, 2010.

“Legislating Truth: Maimonides, the Almohads, and the 13th Century Jewish Enlightenment,” Divinity School, University of Chicago, January 25, 2010.

“God, Pedagogy, and Autonomy in Spinoza and Lessing,” Colloquium in Early Modern History, Princeton Institute for Advanced Study, January 20, 2010.

2009

“Divine Law and Autonomy in Plato’s Political Thought,” Colloquium, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, November, 2 2009.

“Zeitalter des Kosmopolitismus? Zur Philosophischen Diskussion um den Multikuturalismus.“ Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes, Stipendiatentreffen in Nordamerika, Montreal, October 3, 2009.

2008

“Spontaneous Generation in Aristotle, Alexander of Aphrodisias, Themistius, and Averroes,” Dept. of Philosophy, University of Ottawa, October 31, 2008.

“Islam and European Identity,” Lecture at South-Eastern Europe and the EU Leadership Development Program, Transfuse Association and College of Europe, Schloss Neuhardenberg, Germany, September 7, 2008.

“Zum intellektuellen Dialog zwischen Juden und Muslimen im Mittelalter,” Keynote-Lecture opening the “Sommeruniversität Judentum und Islam” at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich, July 20, 2008.

“Mehr Theokratie wagen! Was al-Fārābī und Maimonides Ayaan Hirsi Ali antworten würden,“ Simon-Dubnow-Institut, Universität Leipzig, July 17, 2008.

“Theokratie und Autonomie in der Mittelalterlichen Islamischen und Jüdischen Philosophie,” Heinrich-Heine Universität, Düsseldorf, July 7, 2008.

“Theocracy and Autonomy in Medieval Islamic and Jewish Philosophy,” Freie Universität Berlin, July 4, 2008.

“The Averroistic Legacy in Spinoza and Pierre Bayle,” Conference Renaissance Averroism and its Aftermath: Arabic Philosophy in Early Modern Europe, The Warburg Institute, London, June 20-21, 2008.

“Critical Self-Examination, Socratic Education, and Democracy,” New Policy School, Belgrade, May 23, 2008.

“Theocracy and Autonomy in Medieval Islamic and Jewish Philosophy,” Dept.  of Philosophy, University of Toronto, May 5, 2008.

“From God as the Place of the World in Philo of Alexandria and Hasdai Crescas to Spinoza’s God as Res Extensa,” Conference on Nature et surnaturel. Philosophies de la nature et métaphysique aux XVIIe-XVIIIe siècles, Luxemburg, February 23-24, 2008.

“Religion as the Handmaid of Philosophy: The Impact of Plato’s Political Philosophy on the Philosophical Interpretation of Religion in Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Early Modern Period,” Werkstattgespräch,” Institut für Philosophie, Universität Würzburg, January 31, 2008.

2007

“On the Relationship between Philosophy and Religion in Averroes, Elijah Delmedigo, and Spinoza,” Early Modern Philosophy Workshop, The University of Chicago, November 16, 2007.

“Religion as the Handmaid of Philosophy: On the Philosophical Interpretation of Religion from Antiquity to the Enlightenment,” Institute for Research in the Humanities, University of Madison-Wisconsin, November 20, 2007.

“Philosophy and Exegesis in al-Fārābī, Averroes, and Maimonides,” Midwest Seminar in Ancient and Medieval Philosophy, Marquette University, 2 November 2007.

Commentator on paper by Alfred Ivry at the 2007 Toronto Colloquium in Medieval Philosophy, September 28-29, 2007.

“Divine Law in the Platonic Tradition - One or Many?” Universality of Reason, Plurality of Philosophies in the Middle Ages, 12th International Congress of Medieval Philosophy, Palermo, September 16-22, 2007.

“Teaching Maimonides in Makassar and Plato in Palestine.” International Conference “Islam through Jewish Eyes - Judaism through Muslim Eyes,” Schloß Elmau, Germany, June 25-26, 2007.

“Some Reflections on Philosophy, Religion, and Democracy.” Public Lecture at the State Islamic University, Jakarta, Indonesia, May 31, 2007.

“Some Reflections on Philosophy, Religion, and Democracy.” Public Lecture at the State Islamic University, Makassar, Indonesia, May 24, 2007.

“From Philo of Alexandria to Eusebius of Caesarea: The Platonic Transformation of Judaism and Christianity in Late Antiquity and the Transmission of Greek Philosophy.” Vehicles of Translation, Transmission, and Transformation in Medieval Cultures, International Conference, McGill University, Montreal, April 26-28, 2007.

“The Status of Theology: From Philosophy’s Handmaid to an Independent Discipline in Renaissance Averroism and Spinoza.” Aufbruch  ins Moderne Europa - Philosophie zwischen 1400 und 1700, First International Congress of the European Society for Early Modern Philosophy, Essen, March 2007.

2006

“Poverty and Human Dignity in the Jewish and Muslim intellectual traditions.” International Conference. “The Dignity of the Poor: Concepts, Practices, Representations,” December 7-9, 2006, German Historical Institute, London.

“Rational Dogmatism and Empirical Skepticism in Solomon Maimon’s Commentary on Maimonides’ Presentation of the Doctrines of Kalām,” International Conference on Solomon Maimon, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam, October 30 – November 2, 2006.

[In Hebrew] “Religion as the Handmaid of Philosophy in Plato, Philo, and al-Fârâbî.” The Hebrew University Jerusalem, June 7, 2006.

2005

“Platonic Interpretations of Revealed Religion: from Ancient Alexandria to Baghdad.” International Society for Neoplatonic Studies, APA, Eastern Division, December 29, 2005.

“Plato’s Political Phliosophy and the Interpretation of Judaisim, Christianity, and Islam as Philosophical Religions.” McGill Medievalists Works in Progress Series, September 29, 2005.

“Could Spinoza Have Written the Ethics as a Commentary on the Bible?” April 22, 2005, Montreal Interuniversity Workshop in the History of Philosophy.

2004

“Philosophy and Revelation in al-Fārābī and Maimonides” Meeting sponsored by the American Society for Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy at the APA, Eastern Division, Boston, December 27-30, 2004.

“Philosophy and Revelation in al-Fârâbî and Maimonides.” The Boston University Center of Philosophy and History of Science, November 2004.

“From Maimonides to Samuel ibn Tibbon: Interpreting Judaism as a Philosophical Religion.” Maimonides Conference at Harvard University, October 2004.

“From Maimonides to Samuel ibn Tibbon: Interpreting Judaism as a Philosophical Religion.” International Conference “Maimonides, the Man and his Image”, University College London, June 15-17, 2004.

“Some Remarks on the Role of Human Rights and Human Dignity in Greek Philosophy and the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Intellectual Traditions,” Workshop Human Dignity, Human Rights and Duties, Historical, Cultural, and Social Aspects sponsored by the International Union of Academies, Barcelona, May 26-27, 2004.

[Hebrew] “Between Dogmatic Aristotelianism and Scientific Progress: Averroes’ and Maimonides’ Reaction to the Crisis of Aristotelian Cosmology in the 12th Century.” International Conference: Maimonides: Between Tradition and Revolution, Jerusalem, May 2004.

2003

“Hasdai Crescas and Spinoza on God’s Infinite Extension,” invited lecture to the Spinoza Study Group at the Dept. of Philosophy at Yale University, November 2003.

“Moses and Christ as Authors of Philosophical Fiction: the Platonic Sources of Philo’s Theory of Scripture and its Influence on Origen of Alexandria,” international conference: The Changing Face of Judaism, Christianity and Other Greco-Roman Religions in Antiquity, Faculty of Religious Studies at McGill University, Montreal, September 15-19, 2003.

“The Metaphysical Foundation of the Study of Nature in Medieval Philosophy.” International Conference: Medieval Jews and the Sciences - A Synoptic View. Institute of Jewish Studies, London, June, 16-19, 2003.

2002

“Maimonides, Lodewijk Meyer, and Spinoza on the Interpretation of Scripture.” December 16, 2002, 34th Annual Conference of the Association for Jewish Studies.

“Vom Monotheismus Jüdischer Aristoteliker im Mittelalter zu Spinozas Monismus,” invited lecture, July 2002, Philosophisches Institut der Freien Universität Berlin.

“Maimonides, Spinoza, Solomon Maimon and the Completion of the Copernican Revolution in Philosophy.” International conference: Sepharad in Ashkenaz - Medieval knowledge and eighteenth-century enlightened Jewish discourse. Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, February 18-21, 2002.

2001

“From Monotheism to Monism - The Relationship of the Divine Intellect in Jewish Aristotelianism to Spinoza’s Deus sive Natura,” December 17, 2001, Association for Jewish Studies - 33rd Conference.

“Metaphysics in an Oriental Garb, or how the God of Aristotle became the God of the Hebrews in Spinoza and Hegel,” September 21, 2001, Dept. of Philosophy, McGill University.

“Hätte Spinoza die Ethik als einen Kommentar zur Bibel schreiben können?” invited lecture, Philosophisches Seminar der Universität Hamburg, June 2001.

[Hebrew] “What is in God’s Mind in the Metaphysical Tradition from Aristotle to Hegel,” lecture on occasion of the award of the prize in memory of Prof. Shlomo Pines at The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, May 2001.

“Measuring God’s Body: From Medieval Jewish Aristotelianism to Spinoza,” McGill University, Dept. of Jewish Studies, January 16, 2001.

2000

[Hebrew] “Different Aspects of Samuel ibn Tibbon’s Relationship to the Guide of the Perplexed,” colloquium of the Faculty of Philosophy at Bar Ilan University, February 29, 2000.