Ḥasdai Crescas and Scholastic Philosophers on the Possible Existence of Multiple Simultaneous Worlds

Scholars who examine the possible influence of scholastic writers on Crescas’ treatment of the existence of multiple worlds have thus far focused on Nicole Oresme’s Latin and French works. It is proposed here that Crescas may have been influenced by Thomas Aquinas’ treatment of the multiple worlds. More specifically, Crescas’ first two arguments for the existence of multiple worlds, presented in the fourth treatise of Or Hashem, are compared with Aquinas’ arguments in his quaestio on the issue in the Summa Theologica. Given that these arguments share a common structure and appear in the same order in both works, it is plausible that Crescas relied on by Aquinas. The differences between them can be explained largely by Crescas’ desire to adapt Aquinas’ proofs to suit his own treatment of creation.