The Physical and Epistemological Foundations of Levi ben Gershom's Astrology: Providence and Israel's Redemption within the Natural History of Humankind

Levi ben Gershom, Gersonides (1288–1344), the eminent Provençal philosopher-scientist, integrated astrology into his globally Aristotelian cosmology, in opposition to Maimonides' vehement rejection of astrology as a pseudo-science verging on idolatry. In this paper I spell out the theoretical premises that were the basis of Gersonides' cosmology and evaluate its epistemological foundations.